Re-industrialising Scotland

Stephen Boyd, STUCDecent Work, Dignified Lives

15 October 2014

Manufacturing output as % of GDP

World’s biggest manufacturing nations by output in 2011

USChina

Japan

German

y

South Korea Ita

ly UKFra

nceIndia

Mexico

Brazil

Taiw

anSp

ain

Canad

aRussi

a

Turke

y

Indonesia

Poland

Netherl

ands

Switz

erlan

d0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Output rank % of national output Output per capita

Rank

/% o

f nati

onal

out

put

Out

put p

er ca

pita

How to explain UK’s relatively poor performance?

• Lack of political support• Endemic short-termism• The ‘imperial overhang’• Complacent attitude to ownership and

control• skills…not primarily a story of high costs…

Hourly labour costs in euros, EU 28, 2013

Bulgaria

Romania

Lithuan

iaLat

via

Hungary

Poland

Slova

kia

Croati

a

Estonia

Czech Rep

Portuga

lMalt

a

Greece

Slove

nia

Cypru

s UKSp

ain Itlay

EU28

EA17

Irelan

d

German

y

Austria

Finlan

d

N/lands

France Lu

x

Belgium

Denmark

Swed

en

Norway

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Whole Economy Industry Services

Protection of permanent workers against individual and collective dismissal, OECD 2013

US

Canad

a UK NZ

Sw/la

nd

Irelan

d

Australi

aJap

anBraz

ilSp

ain

Icelan

d

Greece

Belgium

Denmark

Austria

Norway

Finlan

dIta

ly

Swed

enFra

nce

German

y

N/lands

Portuga

lChina

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

Individual dismissals Collective dismissals

Product market regulation and barriers to trade and investment, OECD, 2013

“Indeed, the manufacturing sector is also where the world’s middle classes take shape and grow. Without a vibrant manufacturing base, societies tend to divide between rich and poor – those who have access to steady, well-paying jobs, and those whose jobs are less secure and lives more precarious. Manufacturing may ultimately be central to the vigor of a nation’s democracy”.Dani Rodrik, 2011