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This Quartz article draws upon an industry study for which Professor Tsay is a co-investigator.  The study surveyed more than 70 leading global firms regarding where their products are manufactured, with intent to identify drivers of shifts in offshoring/reshoring.  The article interviewed Professor Tsay for an assessment of the White House announcement of Foxconn's intention to build a $10 billion LCD factory in Wisconsin. 

From the article:

It may be obvious that companies need someone—or something—to make things, but the robots and machines available in the US are a big draw for manufacturers, according to a 2014 survey among more than 70 global firms.

The poll, by a consortium of universities, asked companies to rank their reasons for deciding to increase production in North America. On a scale of 1 (unimportant) to 5 (extremely important), they gave automation and other technological advances a 3.2. Firms that increased production in other regions ranked technology as less important. Innovation and design skills were also more important reasons to settle in North America than they were in other regions.

Foxconn’s high-tech facility will probably require plenty of both designer/engineer types and robots.

Trump makes it sound like his election suddenly rekindled interest in bringing factories back to the US, but data from the global-firm survey suggest that’s been happening for a while. It also shows that much of the “re-shoring” is being done by foreign, not American firms.

Take Chinese investors. Long before Trump got elected, they were ramping up their foreign direct investment in the US, much of it in manufacturing.

It’s very possible that Foxconn chairman Terry Gou, who watched over Trump as he claimed credit for the Wisconsin project, was pondering an American factory long before Trump got elected.

“The incumbents of whatever party is in office will always be happy to take credit on their watch,” said Andy Tsay, a professor at 91����Ƶ who co-authored the report on the survey results.

But the decisions don’t get made overnight, he said.

Read the article:   

Quartz is Atlantic Media's international news outlet and sister publication to The Atlantic magazine.