1st Edition

The Global Restructuring of the Steel Industry Innovations, Institutions and Industrial Change

By Anthony D'Costa Copyright 1999

    Drawing upon case studies of the steel industry in the US, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and India, this book explains how and why the steel industry has shifted from advanced capitalist countries to late industrializing countries. Anthony P. D'Costa examines the relationship between industrial change and institutional responses to technological diffusion. He reveals the governments' and firms' differing responses to innovations lead to an uneven diffusion of technology and industrial reorganization. Moreover, when it becomes clear that existing institutional arrangements no longer serve the industry well, new arrangement are created which allow for innovative behaviour. Often this has created opportunities for technological 'leapfrogging' and the emergence of new technologies in unexpected places.

    Chapter 1. The Restructuring of the Steel Industry, Chapter 2. An Institutional Interpretation of Steel Industry Restructuring: An Analytical Framework, Chapter 3. Technological Change and Crisis in the American Steel Industry, Chapter 4. Technological Change and Rapid Industrial Development in Japan and South Korea, Chapter 5. Technological Change and Institutional Challenges in Brazil, India and Korea, Chapter 6. Technological Change and the Internalization of the Steel Industry, Chapter 7. Innovations, Entrepreneurial Breakthroughs, and Industry Restructuring, Chapter 8. Interpreting Technological Change and Industrial Restructuring.

    Biography

    Anthony D'Costa

    'The book's clear structure and writing style make it a pleasure to read. It is a detailed account of the global shift of the steel industry and therefore is useful to economic geographers and regional scientists interested in situating their research on steel industry regions in a broader context.' - Regional Studies, Vol. 37.4, 2003, Robert Hassink, Universiy of Bonn