Industrial Restructuring and Economic Growth

The last two decades have been a period of structural change in industrialised countries. The extent of this restructuring process has been different across countries and industries, though. In this paper we investigate the effect of lagging behind in the process of downsizing and deconcentration. We find empirical evidence of industries that experienced only little downsizing when compared internationally to experience less subsequent growth, on average. However, this effect is industry-dependent and its magnitude depends upon whether firm or establishment data are used. Technologically advanced industries are found to be particularly sensitive to (lack of) restructuring.