ABSTRACT
By the end of the 1970s, the ‘Golden Age’ of capitalism that started in the post-Second World War years came to an end. The institutional arrangements that sustained a strong process of capital accumulation had now become a straitjacket for its continued expansion. There began a process of considerable institutional and productive transformations, which scholars are still trying to explain. One of the most important dimensions of this transformation is related to changes in the global organization of production. A restructuring of supply chains in multiple locations involving multiple firms operating in a highly coordinated way through market exchanges has been evidenced. This stands in sharp contrast to the vertically integrated conglomerates distinctive of the Fordist mode of accumulation.
