Economic Growth in Scotland between the Wars
The Role of Production Structure and Rationalization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3678786 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neil K Buxton (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 538-555 |
| Publication date | 1980-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1980.tb01175.x |
| OpenAlex | W2031680565 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 6 |
W l rHILE cyclical movements in development of British economy between wars have become fairly familiar, much less is known about workings and behaviour of regional economies during this period. Scotland appears to have been particularly neglected, there being little detailed treatment of structure and performance of economy. Several specifically studies exist, but these usually deal almost incidentally with interwar years as part of a much longer study.1 In more general works, Scotland tends to be subsumed in category, Celtic fringes, it being assumed that these areas suffered in more extreme form problems of national economy due to their preponderance of heavy industry and dependence on export trade. This article seeks to remedy lack of documentation on Scotland between wars by examining in following two sections development and performance of its economy. These reveal relatively poor growth achieved and emphasize extent of the Scottish problem after First World War. Section in examines conflicting arguments which have developed over role of industrial structure and its influence on Scottish economic performance. Both this and following section challenge popular view that there was no great difference between industrial pattern in Scotland and Great Britain as a whole: that rather than structural weaknesses per se, Scotland's relatively poor performance can be attributed to failure, industry by industry, to match rates of growth achieved in national economy. While acknowledging importance of latter factor, this article contends first, that significant structural differences did, indeed, exist and second, that these constitute a major part of explanation of relatively slow rate of growth of Scottish economy between wars. Since Scotland, more than most regions, appeared urgently in need of some form of industrial reorganization, section v examines efforts made to bring supply more into line with demand. The final section draws threads together and considers whether more positive forms of rationalization might have obviated many ofthe observed weaknesses ofindustry. Throughout, performance in Scotland will be measured in relation to that of Great Britain as a whole. This provides a convenient reference against which economic fortunes of
Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Macroeconomics · Management · Microeconomics · Natural resource economics · Production (economics) · Rationalization (economics) · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Scottish History and National Identity
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,15 |
| Citation span | 1987 - 2016 (30) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |