Industrial Development Policy and the Restructuring of the Northern Ireland Economy

Abstract

There can be little doubt that Northern Ireland has experienced, and continues to experience, severe economic and social disadvantages within the United Kingdom context. These are manifested most noticeably in high and persistent levels of unemployment. In this paper the nature of the regional problems in Northern Ireland is outlined, and the development and implementation of an industrial development policy designed to strengthen and diversify the industrial base of the region is summarised. There is then an examination of the contribution of the industrial development (ID) programme to employment change in Northern Ireland since 1945. Particular attention is given to the employment performance of various age cohorts of project openings and to the impact of country of ownership and industrial structure on the pattern of employment change. The impact of the ID programme on, and implications for, the region's growth performance are then drawn out, and the paper concludes with some suggestions for the development of ID policies in the 1980s.