Where Does My Stuff Come From?

The Powerful Economics Behind Global Supply Chains
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-394-40896-2
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 522 g

Almost nothing is made where you think it is

Where Does My Stuff Come From? reveals the complex international supply networks behind products Americans use daily, from chocolate chips and computer chips to athletic shoes and frozen fish. Written by Willy Shih, a Harvard Business School professor with 28 years of hands-on experience at IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Eastman Kodak, this accessible guide demystifies global supply chains through everyday products.

Shih examines why so many goods get made far away, who actually makes them, and what it costs you. Why do my cashew nuts say they came from Vietnam when they were actually grown in West Africa? What do Henry Ford and lifestyles of the Chinese Communist Party have to do with making iPhones? What do Ozempic and beer have to do with laundry detergent? Things come from where they do for a variety of reasons, and this book will help you understand the economic logic behind it all.

Readers will also discover:

- The brand on the label usually doesn’t tell you who actually made the product
- Why ‘just make it in America’ is harder than it sounds
- How tariffs and industrial policies can have an outsized influence on where things are made
- The tension behind reshoring, high-paying jobs, and having a wide choice of inexpensive products

Ideal for consumers who are curious, business professionals navigating trade disruptions, or anyone trying to make sense of today’s trade debates, Where Does My Stuff Come From? provides clear context for understanding how global supply chain decisions shape everyday American life and purchasing power.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shih, Willy

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wirtschaftssoziologie, Arbeitssoziologie, Organisationssoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PREFACE xi
INTRODUCTION xix

1 Trade and Tradability 1
2 Specialization and Tiered Supply Chains 19
3 Labor Arbitrage 37
4 Capital vs. Labor 49
5 Outsourcing and Contract Manufacturing 61
6 Why So Much Labor-Intensive Assembly Work Is Done in China 73
7 How Industrial Clusters Can Play a Big Role in Global Supply Chains 93
8 Supply Chain Design and Management 111
9 Where Prices Are Made: Concentrated Nodes and the Geography of Value 127
10 Tariff and Nontariff Barriers 145
11 Industrial Policy and the Geography of Production 161
12 The Road Ahead 179

REFERENCES 195
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 215
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 217
INDEX 219

Über Autor(innen)

WILLY SHIH is the Robert & Jane Cizik Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School, where he has taught for 20 years. Prior to HBS, he spent 28 years in industry at IBM, Digital Equipment, Silicon Graphics, Eastman Kodak, and Thomson SA. Willy’s expertise is in manufacturing, supply chains, and product development. He has written for the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, and the Nikkei Asian Review.