Britain’s industrial evolution: the structuring role of economic theory

Konzelmann, Suzanne J. and Fovargue-Davies, M. and Wilkinson, F. (2018) Britain’s industrial evolution: the structuring role of economic theory. Journal of Economic Issues 52 (1), pp. 1-30. ISSN 0021-3624.

Abstract

This paper traces the co-evolution of industrial organization and the ideas and policies that have influenced Britain’s industrial development from Alfred Marshall’s pioneering work on the English industrial districts to the present. It then examines four contemporary districts – in footwear, motorsport, sparkling wine and cyber security – that are internationally competitive, despite decades of ill-informed policy choices, if not neglect. We then investigate the case of British elite sport as a high-performance industrial cluster with potentially transferrable institutional arrangements, particularly with regard to the nature and role of the strategic lead body and the state as well as relationships within the system. We conclude that Marshall’s methodological and theoretical approach to understanding industrial organization – and his belief that industrial districts would co-exist with other forms of industrial organization (rather than be super-ceded by them) – helps to explain the dynamism of contemporary British industrial districts, with important implications for Britain’s industrial revitalization.

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