IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v20y1999i5p281-290.html

Downsizing and productivity: The case of UK motor vehicle manufacturing 1974-1994

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Collins

    (Department of Economics, University of Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK)

  • Richard I.D. Harris

    (Department of Economics, University of Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK)

Abstract

An empirical investigation of the downsizing-productivity relationship has emerged from the USA. This paper presents further evidence drawn from another country's experience. Detailed commentary on key trends in the UK motor vehicle industry informs an analysis applying the Baily et al. [Baily, Bartelsman and Haltiwanger (1994) Downsizing and productivity growth: myth or reality? National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 4741; (1996a) Downsizing and productivity growth: myth or reality? In Sources of Productivity Growth (edited by D.G. Mayes), New York: Cambridge University Press; (1996b) Downsizing and productivity growth: myth or reality? Small Business Economics, 8 , 259-278] taxonomic model, yielding insights into the varieties of downsizing-productivity linkages therein. Evidence presented shows productivity growth was indeed higher in those plants that successfully downsized, but that those plants that were unsuccessful at downsizing tended to have among the worst productivity growth rates. Unsuccessful downsizers accounted for a significant part of the overall decline in productivity after 1989. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Collins & Richard I.D. Harris, 1999. "Downsizing and productivity: The case of UK motor vehicle manufacturing 1974-1994," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(5), pages 281-290.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:20:y:1999:i:5:p:281-290
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1468(199908)20:5<281::AID-MDE939>3.0.CO;2-H
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baily, Martin Neil & Bartelsman, Eric J & Haltiwanger, John, 1996. "Downsizing and Productivity Growth: Myth or Reality?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 259-278, August.
    2. Christian Dor, 1993. "Strategies of Multinational Industrial Groups: The Car Industry," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Zuhayr Mikdashi (ed.), Financial Strategies and Public Policies, chapter 17, pages 147-150, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Keasey, Kevin & Thompson, Steve & Wright, Mike (ed.), 1997. "Corporate Governance: Economic and Financial Issues," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198289913.
    4. Geroski, P A & Murfin, A, 1991. "Entry and Intra-industry Mobility in the UK Car Market," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 53(4), pages 341-359, November.
    5. repec:bla:obuest:v:62:y:2000:i:2:p:243-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bénédicte Reynaud, 2010. "Workforce reduction and firm performance: Evidence from French firm data," PSE Working Papers halshs-00564828, HAL.
    2. Guido Friebel & Gerard McCullough & Laura Padilla Angulo, 2014. "Patterns of Restructuring The US Class 1 Railroads from 1984 to 2004," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 48(1), pages 115-135, January.
    3. Chiara N Focacci & Vassil Kirov, 2021. "Regional entrepreneurial ecosystems: Technological transformation, digitalisation and the longer term—The automotive and ICT sectors in the UK and Bulgaria," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 36(1), pages 56-74, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Klaus S. Friesenbichler & Agnes Kügler, 2026. "Short and medium-term effects of intangible capital on firm growth: firm-level evidence from austrian microdata," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 53(1), pages 113-148, February.
    2. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2008. "Self-Selection and Post-Entry Effects of Exports: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 660-694, December.
    3. Iveta Šimberová & Alena Kocmanová, 2012. "Corporate governance - research of key indicators on market of processing industry in the Czech Republic via cluster analysis," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 60(7), pages 359-368.
    4. Takehiko Yasuda, 2005. "Firm Growth, Size, Age and Behavior in Japanese Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Mahmut Yasar & Roderick M. Rejesus & Ilhami Mintemur, 2006. "Plant-level dynamics and aggregate productivity growth in the Turkish meat-processing industry: Evidence from longitudinal data," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 91-107.
    6. International Monetary Fund, 2009. "Spain: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2009/129, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Sourafel Girma & Steve Thompson & Peter Wright, 2002. "Multinational activity and CEO compensation: Preliminary evidence from large UK firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 138(4), pages 680-693, December.
    8. Marco Zanobio, 2012. "Aspetti teorici della Corporate Governance," DISEIS - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo dis1202, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo (DISEIS).
    9. Xosé-Luís Varela-Irimia, 2012. "Profitability, uncertainty and multi-product firm product proliferation: The Spanish car industry," Working Papers XREAP2012-16, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Sep 2012.
    10. José Allouche & Patrice Laroche & Florent Noël, 2008. "Restructurations et performances de l’entreprise:une méta-analyse," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 11(2), pages 105-146, June.
    11. Mahmut Yasar & Roderick Rejesus & Ilhami Mintemur, 2004. "Is there evidence of creative destruction in the Turkish manufacturing sector? Lessons from a cross-industry analysis of aggregate productivity growth," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(17), pages 1937-1945.
    12. Maria-Teresa Marchica, "undated". "Debt Maturity and the Characteristics of Ownership Structure: An Empirical Investigation of UK Firms," Discussion Papers 05/29, Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Cristina Guillamón & Enrique Moral-Benito & Sergio Puente, 2017. "High growth firms in employment and productivity: dynamic interactions and the role of financial constraints?," Working Papers 1718, Banco de España.
    14. Wheeler, Christopher H., 2007. "Job Flows And Productivity Dynamics: Evidence From U.S. Manufacturing," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 175-201, April.
    15. Kanellos Toudas & Athanasios Bellas, 2014. "Corporate Governance and its Effect on Firm Value and Stock Returns of Listed Companies on the Athens Stock Exchange," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 58-80.
    16. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando del Río & Omar Licandro, "undated". "The importance of the embodied question revisited," Working Papers 99-13, FEDEA.
    17. Jens J. Krüger, 2008. "Productivity And Structural Change: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 330-363, April.
    18. Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner & Alfred Greiner & Thomas Kuhn (ed.), 2009. "Recent Advances in Neo-Schumpeterian Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12982.
    19. Simon Bruhn & Thomas Grebel & Lionel Nesta, 2023. "The fallacy in productivity decomposition," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 797-835, July.
    20. Guido Friebel & Gerard McCullough & Laura Padilla Angulo, 2014. "Patterns of Restructuring The US Class 1 Railroads from 1984 to 2004," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 48(1), pages 115-135, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:20:y:1999:i:5:p:281-290. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.