Indigenous Industry Research Articles

The Political Economy and Regional Implications of Energy Policy in Britain in the 1990s

In this paper I first outline significant developments in the field of energy policy in Britain in the 1990s. Two themes identified by the 1998 White Paper on energy sources for power generation are considered in depth: the related issues of diversity and security of supply; and the operation of the electricity market. The leading fossil-fueled generators have pursued a path of internationalisation in the course of the decade that contrasts markedly with the contraction of the indigenous coal industry. These corporate strategies and their regional implications are considered in a subsequent section. It is concluded that there are contrasting arguments presently being applied by government to different fuel sources. A likely consequence of recent policies will be high levels of imports of coal and gas by the second decade of the 21st century. This in part arises from government preoccupation in the early 1990s with reducing the degree of dependence upon coal as an energy source.

Multinational Companies and Linkages: Panel-Data Evidence for the Irish Electronics Sector

This paper analyses the extent and determinants of backward local linkages between multinational companies and domestic suppliers in the Irish electronics industry, and their effect on indirect employment generated in domestic supplier firms. Several models in recent literature show that linkages between firms can lead to positive effects on the development of indigenous industry, agglomerations, technology spill-overs and indirect employment generation. Our empirical analysis, using a uniquely generated firm-level panel data set, indicates that the extent of linkages is related in a non-linear fashion to the length of time that the firm is located in Ireland. In the context of the literature on the effects of linkages, we find empirical evidence consistent with the view that growth in employment in upstream supplier firms in electronics is linked to the development of downstream firms.

Recent insights into the metallurgical technologies of ancient mesoamerica

Data gained from the analyses reported here make it possible to distinguish West Mexican artifacts from artifacts that may represent indigenous local Mesoamerican metalworking industries. Further lead-isotope studies of Mesoamerican ores and artifacts, archaeological surveys in key areas to locate metal processing and production sites, and excavations of those processing and production sites to establish chronologies and to investigate the specifics of the processing technologies are now required.

Trade in capital goods generated by international diffusion of technology

This paper examines the dynamics of national income of developing countries, which must import advanced capital goods so as to use technology which has been learned. The main result is that depending on foreign countries for capital goods has no negative effects on real wage rates, which are determined solely by labour productivity of indigenous industries. The analysis also covers the mechanism of export-oriented growth of developing countries and its effects on developed countries. All of the explanations are quite simple, however, none of them can be derived if international learning or trade in capital goods is ignored.

Construction

There are many benefits of utilising the small-scale contracting sector. Unfortunately, small contracting enterprises have great difficulty developing and expanding their businesses for a number of reasons but primarily:• By virtue of their size and turnover they are invisible to construction statistics.• The institutional framework which supports the construction industry in the majority of developing countries is very weak and underdeveloped.These factors lead to small construction enterprises having great difficulty in obtaining credit and financial resources. If government agencies and national organisations wish to develop their indigenous construction industry they must develop an understanding of the institutional framework that supports the industry, particularly the financial sector. They should also understand the risks, which can be assessed in financial terms, and proportion them according to the body best placed to bear them.

The Malt Whisky Trail: The Tourism and Marketing Potential of the Whisky Distillery Visitor Centre

The whisky industry of Scotland originates from the 15th Century when in 1494 the earliest record of distilling in Scotland was documented (www.scotch‐whisky.org.co). Since then the whisky industry has developed to become an intrinsic part of Scottish life and today generates vital employment opportunities and export revenue for the country. The realisation of the tourism and marketing potential of whisky distilleries in Scotland however only occurred in the late 1960s when the Glenfiddich, Glenfarclas and Glenlivet visitor centres opened (TMDA, 1995). Since then more than 44 distillery visitor centres have opened (SWA, 1999) and they now make a significant contribution to the range of tourist attractions in Scotland. For example, in 1995, six distilleries appeared in the top 50 visitor attractions in the Grampian region (GRC, 1995). The Malt Whisky Trail (MWT) is a collaborative venture between Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board, the Local Enterprise Company and a specific group if distilleries in the valley of the River Spey. Modelled on successful chateaux visitor trails in France, the first distilleries on the MWT opened to visitors in 1972, and the Trail now consists of a sign posted route, a planned itinerary and informative literature for seven distilleries and one cooperage in the region. This paper outlines the history, development and establishment of the MWT in North East Scotland, the performance of the distillery visitor centre in attracting visitors and adding value to the brand, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits of the MWT. The paper contributes to the literature in three ways: to further understanding of the link between an indigenous industry and tourism, to illustrate the use of co‐operative marketing between firms, and to provide a case study example from which other industries and regions can learn.

Creating a bridge between university and industry in small European countries: the role of the Industrial Liaison Office

The frequent and intermittent need for new scientific knowledge has resulted in an increasing focus on links between industry and academic institutions. This has been particularly pronounced in the flows of knowledge between the two partners, which may lead to considerable diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge, particularly into the small firm sector. This development could be of particular benefit to smaller peripheral economies, which have demonstrated low levels of indigenous industrial technological development. As a result, universities could become increasingly important for local economic development in smaller countries on the periphery of Europe. However, a greater understanding is required of the pro‐active role that the university itself can play in developing strong linkages with industry, particularly through mechanisms such as the Industrial Liaison Office (ILO). In particular, there needs to be an examination of the strategies and policies that are undertaken to increase the process of technology transfer from academia into local indigenous business within smaller countries. This paper will therefore examine the role that universities play in the regional economic development in two contrasting small countries of Europe, namely Sweden and Ireland. Drawing on interviews with key individuals in the processes of technology transfer between academia and industry (including ILOs), as well as secondary data, it will examine the general role and function of the industrial liaison office and how this has changed. It will also discuss the involvement of the university in different types of industrial links, the main opportunities and barriers to the development of links between university and industry, the benefits to the university from industrial links, and the perception of industry’s assessment of the relationship with universities. The research will provide valuable insight into the role of universities in developing innovation and entrepreneurship within the smaller and peripheral countries of Europe and will determine whether these universities are undertaking a pro‐active role in encouraging the growth of innovative indigenous industry. This may have significant policy implications, especially with regard to the development of specific regional programmes to encourage academic‐based entrepreneurship.

Exploring the 'Celtic Tiger' Phenomenon

The economy of the Republic of Ireland has experienced continuously high growth rates in the 1990s, after a period of severe difficulty in the previous decade. As a result, Ireland is now within sight of exceeding average EU living standards, a situation which would reverse Ireland's traditional status as a peripheral European economy. The main purpose of this article is to examine the factors which have contributed to this apparent economic miracle, which has earned Ireland the 'Celtic Tiger' appellation. Particular importance is attached to the role of inward investment, which has grown in quantity and changed in quality in the last decade. These changes are attributed to general developments in the locational behaviour of transnational corporations, especially the need for access to skilled workers in an increasingly high-tech age. Such workers have become readily available in Ireland due to demographic change and state investment in education. However, while foreign branch plants have been upgrading their skill levels and their range of functions, they generally lack strategic responsibilities and independent decision-making powers. Additional contributors to Ireland's economic growth have been macroeconomic stabilization, EU funding, and expansion of tourism and indigenous industry. However, growth has not been shared equally, but has been accompanied by increasing social polarization between those in skilled employment and those who have unskilled jobs or no jobs at all. This polarization could threaten the system of moderate national wage agreements which has played an important role in promoting peaceful industrial relations and in holding inflation to very low levels. There has also been growing spatial polarization, with the great bulk of the recent growth being concentrated in the main cities, especially Dublin. The current growth phase is expected to continue at least for the medium-term future, but could come under pressure from the emergence of competing pools of skilled labour in other parts of Europe.

To Create an Industry: The Growth of Consumer Electronics Manufacturing in Mexico and Taiwan

In 1970, an observer of the investment by the consumer electronics multinationals in Mexico and Taiwan could not have predicted the marked difference in the develop ment of these two nations. The contrast between the Mexican and Taiwanese elec tronics industry could not be more striking—Taiwan's electronics industry was a result of expanding foreign direct investment. Taiwan experienced an expansion of foreign exchange, employment and development of assembler-supplier relations. But, most importantly, it developed local firms capable of supplying these foreign assemblers. Among the Latin American nations, Mexico received the preponderance of investment in consumer electronics. Unlike in Taiwan, investments in Mexico never led to the development of an indigenous industry nor created a synergy between the assemblers and the local suppliers. This paper explores the reasons for the divergence between the two economies, related to the investor's objectives, the investor's position in the international market, and the specific regional location of production chosen for each nationllocality. A complete and historically accurate understanding of the divergence between these two countries can be obtained by examining firm and general industry strategies regarding production and production location between 1965 and 1982. This permits a nuanced understanding of the complexities of local industrial development and the potential role of the foreign investor and, in the process, move beyond simplified arguments about the centrality of the state industrical development.

Industrial Relations and the New Orthodoxy?: A Comparison of Irish and US Manufacturing Companies

The prolonged economic crisis in Ireland of the 1950s forced a reassessment of national economic policy, a move towards Free Trade and the adoption of an outward looking policy initiated by a strategy of ‘industrialisation by invitation’ (O'Malley, 1989). To attract foreign companies the Irish government provided grant aid to firms establishing in Ireland and the profits of export oriented industry were exempt from tax for 15 years (Daly, 1981). By the mid 1990s Ireland had apparently been transformed into a modern industrial state but indigenous industry had contributed little to industrial expansion or employment. Foreign Multinational Corporations (MNCs) accounted for 41% of manufacturing employment with over three quarters of that employment being in firms which had started up since the 1950s. While research on the impact of MNCs on the Irish economy focused mainly on employment creation the study of labour relations in such firms received much less attention. Two articles published in the mid 80s attempted to remedy this neglect (Enderwick, 1986; Kelly & Brannick, 1985).

Tourism and the economic development of Cornwall

This paper explores the contribution made by accommodation-centered tourism in the UK periphery. The analysis is set in a linear programming framework with Leontief coefficients derived from an input-output model for Cornwall forming the basis for the constraints. The empirical results suggest that where tourism is accommodation-centered, an expansion of tourism may not be an optimal strategy in the development of a peripheral economy. In addition, the study finds that such an approach may have a negative impact on indigenous industries. Further, it establishes that tourism has an important role in generating positive external balances but that there may be a trade-off between the generation of these balances and economic development.

The role of information in the information technology trade between the UK and Saudi Arabia

Many developing countries see an expansion of the use of information tech nology (IT) as a key to future prosperity, and hope to establish an indigenous industry which will supply at least some of their needs. Some may even devel op into IT exporters. Since initially this will involve importing IT from developed countries a study was conducted which took the example of Saudi Arabia as a developing country and that of the UK as a developed country in order to study the type of importing and exporting information system that must operate to satisfy both sets of information needs. On the basis of an ear lier pilot study of 28 UK IT exporters, a series of null hypotheses were set up to guide the investigation, namely that there were no differences in: the uti lization of information sources between Saudi Arabian IT importers and UK IT exporters; the utilization of information sources between those UK IT exporters involved with Saudi Arabia and those who were not; the effect of size of the firm on the utilization of information sources; and the obstacles to accessing information sources facing both Saudi IT importers and UK IT exporters. Data collection was by means of questionnaire surveys sent to 220 likely UK exporters and 128 Saudi Arabian importers. It is concluded that information transfer between the Saudi and UK IT importing and exporting systems occurs on an extensive and continuing basis but its efficiency is hampered, in part, by differing attitudes to the interface, and in part by a dif fering use of information channels.

Book Review: Fostering an Indigenous Defence Industry Policy After the “Price Review”. Edited by Graeme Cheese Man

Book Review: Fostering an Indigenous Defence Industry Policy After the “Price Review”. Edited by Graeme Cheese Man

Policy Review Section

In this issue of the Policy Review Section, Peter Shirlow of the School of Geosciences, the Queen's University of Belfast, critically examines the economic development policies of the Irish Republic based upon the attraction of foreign direct investors. It is argued that Ireland's G D P has been grossly exaggerated because of transfer price fixing by transnational corporations and that the strategy of attracting T N Cs has failed to benefit indigenous industry. This leads to a set of policy conclusions based upon a much more interventionist approach towards the T N C sector at national and European levels. In the second article Siobhan Kenny of the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, continues the theme of the need to improve Irish industrial development policy through consideration of the concept of a National Innovation System. It is argued that it is necessary to improve the structures which facilitate technology transfer and introduce measures to enable indigenous firms appropriate new technology, if the programme of attracting inward investment is to realize the potential benefit to the national economy. In the third article, Philip Boland of the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Wales Cardiff, and Michael Mannin and John Wallace of the Division of Health and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University, examine the experience of European funding in Merseyside. The article considers in particular the implications of securing Objective 1 status and the establishment of a new Government Office for Merseyside.

Changing Land Policy and its Impact on Local Growth: The Experience of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, China, in the 1980s

Having elaborated the transformation of land policy in the wake of Chinese economic reform and the background to the formation of a new land policy in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, China, this paper examines whether the new land policy, which is intended to assist inward and indigenous industries, has achieved positive effects on local growth in Shenzhen. In the course of implementation of the new policy, a dual land market has been created, which contracts commercial land supply on the one hand and encourages subsidized land hoarding on the other. Through the process of revived market-oriented property development, the survey has found that the main beneficiaries of the land subsidy are developers and property investors, while real tenants and the local government have not benefited as much as the land policy intended.

Factors Influencing Indigenous Publishing in Africa

Citing Ayi Kwei Armah, Kotei has this to say about the plight of indigenous publishing in Africa: “if you [the writer] set out to print anything on your own, the printing costs will stagger you. If you manage to print, the distribution difficulties will blow your mind. If you give your stuff to a local publisher, you will sympathize so much with his problems so that you may not write again…So all our work… appears first to an audience which either regards us like some glass-enclosed specimen…or like an exotic weed to be sampled and made a conversation piece…or else we become some international organization's pet”.This article assesses the development of the indigenous publishing industry in Sub-Saharan Africa - the economics of publishing in relation to production, marketing and distribution of locally published materials, indigenization, current trends in publishing and the book trade in general, and the roles played by the different bodies concerned.

Offshore development of electronic products

The existence of a local electronics industry is widely considered in both the developed and developing nations to be an essential contributor to prosperity and growth. This is not only on account of the scale of the world market for electronics products, but also because of the radical effect that the application of electronics goods and services has on the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy. This article considers how electronics product development activities are being established in the offshore sites of major multinationals. It begins with a synopsis of how countries attract foreign direct investment and the associated benefits such investments can bring to the indigenous electronics industry of the host country, and then considers how some of the successful electronics-based economies in the Far East have used strategic initiatives to further develop their industry into higher value-added activities.

Caught in the middle: Information technology policy in Australia

Abstract Australia's treatment of information technology (IT) has vacillated between two policy directions: laissez faire, market directed strategy on the one hand, and strong government interventionist, plan directed strategy on the other. The resultant policy mix is more a collection of individual initiatives than a coherent strategy. It produces conflict between initiatives aimed at developing indigenous information industries and those improving the productivity and competitiveness of all industry by encouraging the wider application of IT. Unlike its East Asian neighbors, Australia does not have a powerful, independent economic planning agency capable of creating and implementing industrial and technology policy. Policies must be developed through the give and take of a democratic political process, a process that can lead to fragmented, uncoordinated policies based on bureaucratic inertia, the demands of special interest groups, and short‐term political considerations, rather than long‐term strategi...

Will it Take Sanctions against Australia to Get Us into the Black?

This paper gives a Queensland Aboriginal perspective on the Australian indigenous art industry, in particular the need for support, education, information and resources to take advantage of contemporary formats to widen audiences and extend employment of Aboriginal artists. It draws upon the experiences of the author and his people in surviving the various forms of suppression and genocide which have operated in this country for two centuries. This has had a direct influence on Aboriginal cultural practice, and it is still being perpetrated today. The electronic media has the potential to enable information to be easily accessed and transferred, and a number of recommendations are made which might help redress the suppression of indigenous culture. Finally the paper outlines some attempts by Queensland artists to address the problems. including a database/image bank proposal, a workshop forum, and the Yarrabah ATSI Visual Arts Conference.

Perspectives on publishing in Africa

An indigenous publishing industry is essential to African development. The author places the African situation in a Third World context and discusses such issues as the nature of the African reading public, the politics of language, the role of multinationals, problems of distribution, and technology. He describes the challenges faced in developing an African book industry and suggests some possible approaches to providing assistance.