The Structure of European Industry

ISBN-13: 9789400982352 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 322 str.

H. W. de Jong

Opis

The Structure of European Industry is a collection of essays on the economic organization of industrial sectors in Europe, which may serve either of policy makers in business and in Government; and staff and students at Universities. The first group increasingly needs a focus on the longer-term developments of European industry, now that the positive (growth) effects of the economic integration of the sixties have worn off. Restructuring is the current catch word and nobody can deny the necessity and urgency of the task. But it has become a day-to-day affair and there may be a loss of perspective. The second group is growing up in an international environment and should be equipped accordingly. Many-faceted tasks are involved with serving either depending on the problems which differ according to industries. And here the bewildering complexity of the European industrial scenery strikes. Some of these industries are old fashioned; some are new; some are national in orientation; some have become integrated; some have a competitive structure; some are cartellized or heavily concentrated; some have been interfered with by national Governments, others were free from such policing; etc. Moreover, a number of industries show various combinations of these and other facets at the same time.

Spis treści

I. Concentration and competition in food and drinks manufacturing and distribution.- 1. The content of the industry and general scheme of analysis.- 2. Global statistical approach.- 3. Approach by sample of large enterprises.- 4. The place of large multinationals in food and drink relevant markets.- 5. Power interplay between producers and retailers: structures of prices and mark-ups.- 6. Conclusion: some future problems for the industry.- II. The European beer industry: concentration and competition.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The development of consumption and production of beer in EEC countries.- 3. International trade in beer.- 4. Structural changes in the European beer industry.- 5. Determinants of the structure of the beer industry.- 6. Estimates of minimal optimal scales.- 7. Product differentiation and competition.- 8. Competition on the ‘Outdoor’ beer market.- 9. Competition on the ‘home market’ for beer.- III. The pulp and paper industry: structure and behaviour.- 1. The basic conditions of the pulp and paper industry.- 2. The structure of the pulp and paper industry.- 3. The behaviour of the pulp and paper industry.- 4. The EEC paper industry.- 5. Conclusions.- IV. The cement industry: studies in public and private control.- 1. Introduction.- 2. France.- 3. Italy.- 4. United Kingdom.- 5. Federal Republic of Germany.- 6. Conclusions.- V. Structure and performance in the West European steel industry: a historical perspective.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Theoretical background.- 3. World steel production and trade in historical perspective.- 4. Western Europe’s loss of international competitiveness.- 5. Technical structure as a determinant of international competitiveness.- 6. Relative cost performance.- 7. Summary and conclusions.- VI. Hard coal mining in the EEC countries, especially in Germany.- 1. Developments up to 1957.- 2. From the coal crisis to the first oil crisis and the years after.- 3. Economic measures and their influence.- 4. The present structure and considerations about the future.- VII. The automobile industry.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The industries.- 3. Market structure.- 4. Performance and public policy.- VIII. Competition and economic power in the pharmaceutical industry.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Characteristics of the market for pharmaceutical products.- 3. Market structure.- 4. Competitive behaviour and performance.- 5. The divided international market.- 6. Policy conclusions.- IX. The aerospace industry: problems and policies.- 1. Introduction: a study in political economy.- 2. Market structure and performance.- 3. Output, productivity and costs in Europe and in the USA.- 4. The case for a European aerospace industry.- 5. Conclusion: some unresolved problems.- X. The computer and data processing industry.- 1. Introduction: the international computer industry in Europe.- 2. The industrial capacities.- 3. Strategies of electronic data processing firms.- 4. National electronic data processing policies.- 5. The need for a European industrial electronic data processing policy.- 6. Conclusion.- XI. Public enterprise in Western Europe and the United States.- 1. The extent and forms of public enterprise.- 2. Performance.- 3. Brief predictions.