This paper examines prospects for transnational advocacy and regimes as a way to buttress national labor laws and institutions in an interlocking mosaic and thus ensure the continuation of strong systems of industrial relations under conditions of increasing economic integration. We argue that there is a role for transnational solutions as a supplement to national systems, and we assess the conditions necessary to make this approach effective. We look at a variety of possible actors and arenas that could foster transnationalism and provide illustrations of transnational advocacy and regime building. We conclude that elements of a multilevel, public‐private transnational regime are present in some parts of the world and that these elements can occasionally be knit together. We find that prospects for an effective and sustainable system of transnational multi‐level regulation are greater when regional integration pacts such as the EU and NAFTA create transnational norms or forums. But, based on preliminary analysis of transnational advocacy and regulation in these two areas, we also conclude that no fully effective system has yet emerged.

This article applies the global commodity chain approach to analyze the way policymakers encouraged an automotive commodity chain to touch down in Silao, Mexico. The article explains that the changing dynamics of the global auto industry have transformed it into an "assembler-driven" commodity chain. It notes how policymakers in the state of Guanajuato employed their understanding of the automotive commodity chain, and Mexico's role in the North American auto industry to craft a development strategy aimed at attracting General Motors to Silao, and then luring manufacturers in the automaker's supply chain. This strategy of attracting the lead firm and then working down a producerdriven commodity chain stands in stark contrast to recent development theoriesprescribing industrial upgrading amongfirms in buyer-driven commodity chains.

Research demonstrates that firms tailor their 'lean production' systems to take advantage of local cultural, industrial and labour relations environments to enhance productivity and at specific worksites. This article analyses the human resource policies practised by General Motors (GM) and their suppliers in Silao, Mexico to identify two local innovations to the automaker's lean production system. First, GM achieved the labour stability necessary to implement lean production by meticulously selecting workers and by embracing a local labour union eager to work with the firm. Secondly, GM and its local suppliers co-ordinated a single industrial relations regime, dividing the local labour force between them and maintaining a pay hierarchy among the plants. Doing so increased their collective efficiency by matching each of the factory's production processes with a capable segment of the labour market while stifling wage inflation by reducing competition among them.

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Research recognizes both a tension between standardized work and employee participation as well as the fact that management and labor negotiate both formally and informally over the reorganization of work. Through a comparison of the lean production systems being implemented at three General Motors assembly plants, this article demonstrates the tension between standardization and participation to be socially constructed due, in part, to workplace historical context. Workplace history shapes the attitudes of actors as they negotiate change and can become a significant obstacle to implementing teamwork and employee participation schemes, while perceptions of the future may determine whether or not those obstacles are overcome.