The hollowing out of British manufacturing and its implications for policy

Abstract

This article presents new evidence on the "hollowing out' of British manufacturing. It shows that large British firms are building up their overseas activities while the manufacturing operations which remain in Britain are increasingly sheltered and low tech. The authors argue that these developments set limits on the effectiveness of national industrial policy. Britain's peculiar national problems must in any case be seen as part of a larger European problem about German manufacturing predominance. -Authors