the Auto Industry Moving South, Study UAW Wrong

A few years ago the Center for Automotive Research published a very useful study titled "The Auto Industry Moving South: An Examination of Trends" [PDF]. The study's authors looked at a variety of factors influencing this trend, including the role of incentive packages that states offer to car companies.

What they found is that, contrary to Gettelfinger's assertion, foreign auto companies are not lured to build factories in the U.S. — or even in particular regions of the U.S. — because of incentive packages. Rather, states use incentive packages to compete with their next-door neighbors once a particular region of the U.S. has already been chosen: