Mike Smitka

Biography

Professor Smitka joined the Economics Department and the East Asian Studies program in 1986. He has taught a variety of subjects over the years, from Principles and to seminars on Economic History. He has taught a course on the Chinese economy since 1987, and now teaches a Spring seminar on the auto industry that includes a week in Detroit, and an introduction to the economics of strategy.

Research Interest

Modern Japanese economy, modern Chinese economy and the global auto industry. He has just completed a book on the global auto industry through the lens of technology, and is working on a project on disruption (or its lack!) at the University of Toronta, on the geography of the industry in China, and is beginning a project on automation in automotive manufacturing (sponsored by the International Labor Organization and the Vatican).