Why and How Does Manufacturing Still Matter: Old Rationales, New Realities

Abstract

Cet article contribue à la renaissance d’une vision du système économique davantage fondée sur l’industrie. Il propose une analyse critique des étapes principales du débat industries versus services sur la base d’une évaluation des arguments théoriques et empiriques en faveur des deux visions. Les profondes transformations des systèmes industriels et la redistribution de la production manufacturière à travers le monde dans les vingt dernières années sont ensuite décrites. Elles questionnent certaines hypothèses sur lesquelles la vision basée sur les services s’appuie. Les arguments passés et actuels en faveur d’une vision orientée vers l’industrie sont ainsi analysés. La seconde partie de cet article montre l’importance (i) de certaines industries, par exemple celle de la mécanique, dans la création de capacités industrielles, (ii) des liens technologiques créés au sein de l’industrie dans la capacité des pays à générer le progrès technologique. Enfin, les conséquences négatives d’une dissociation production manufacturière-services (off-shoring) sont explorées en soulignant les risques d’une rupture des liens technologiques constitutifs de l’« industrial commons ».

Structural Change

“…See Kucera and Roncolato (2012); Ocampo et al (2009);Pieper (2000); Timmer and de Vries (2009). This finding is much less surprising than it looks, because as manufacturing becomes more sophisticated, high-tech and skills-intensive in the more advanced stages of industrialization, the demand for specialized producer services complementary to the leading manufacturing sector does indeed markedly increase (see Andreoni and Gregory, 2013;Guerrieri and Meliciani, 2005;Park and Chan, 1989). 15.…”

“…Most of this literature is not included in the lengthy review chapters in the latest Handbook of Development Economics (Rodrik and Rosenzweig, ). Useful reviews of the non‐mainstream literature are Andreoni and Gregory (); Ocampo et al. (); Shapiro (); and Shapiro and Taylor ().…”

Industrial Economics and Policy: Recent History and Theoretical Foundations

“…All these transformations obviously imply a new industrial policy. First, it is necessary to correct what appear to be ex post misleading strategies in the domain of industrial policy (Andreoni and Gregory, 2013). The excessive decline of some industrial sectors in some developed countries has led to a loss of knowledge and capabilities which will not be restored easily.…”

Structural learning: Embedding discoveries and the dynamics of production

“…In 1900 the machine tool industry was revolutionised by the introduction of high-speed steel which allowed an increase in the hardness of cutting tools. However "it was impossible to take advantage of higher cutting speeds with machine tools designed for the older carbon steel cutting tools because they could not withstand the stresses and strains or provide sufficiently high speeds in the other components of the machine tool" (Rosenberg, 1969, p. 7; see also Andreoni and Gregory, 2013). As a consequence, transmissions, control elements and other machine tool components had to be redesigned and this change "in turn, enlarged considerably the scope of their practical operations and facilitated their introduction into new uses" (Rosenberg, 1969, p. 8).…”