This article was written by
I'm a retired economist. Over the decades I focused on the auto industry and on the Japanese economy. I also taught a course on the Chinese economy for 30+ years. Prior to that I was an international banker and worked in factories. I began visiting automotive suppliers in Japan in 1983 for my PhD while based at Hitotsubashi University and the University of Tokyo. Starting in 1994 I've served as a judge for the Automotive News PACE awards, visiting suppliers under an NDA for business case and engineering presentations on innovations. Over the years I've visited ≈100 suppliers, in Korea, Japan, China and the Philippines, the US/Canada/Mexico, many countries in Europe, and Israel. I'm also on the steering committee of the GERPISA consortium of auto industry researchers, and helped plan their June 2022 global conference in Detroit. I'm the co-author of Smitka and Warrian (2017), A Profile of the Global Auto Industry: Innovation and Dynamics, available as an eBook.I first lived in Tokyo in 1975, after graduating from Harvard with a degree in East Asian Studies. My econ PhD is from Yale; the Nobel Laureate Oliver Williamson was my dissertation chair. I've spent 7+ years in Japan, and 2 months or more in China, Korea, Germany and the Philippines. I read, write and speak Japanese, and read German and (a covid project) now read Chinese.My current research interests are technology in the automotive supply chain, and the Chinese industry. My investing is passive, via my university's TIAA retirement plan.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
