Skills development and interfirm learning linkages under globalization: Lessons from the Indian automobile industry

This paper empirically examines changes in the patterns of skills development for Indian workers in domestic firms, particularly in small firms, in the 1990s, when its economy became increasingly integrated into the global economy. A case study of 50 component suppliers of two leading auto assemblers in the Indian automobile industry reveals that dynamic industrial transformations in the 1990s significantly changed the nature, content and extent of skills development at domestic suppliers. The paper argues that various institutional mechanisms created by assembler firms played a critical role in upgrading skills at suppliers, transforming the supply chain into a learning chain. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.