THE COMPETITIVENESS OF UK MANUFACTURING - EVIDENCE FROM IMPORTS

The paper presents an empirical analysis of the behaviour of UK import s of manufactures, intended to develop understanding of non-price comp etitiveness by evaluating the impact of capacity constraints, internat ional specialisation, and industrial standards. Two data sets are empl oyed: aggregate data for the period 1970-93, and a panel of 81 industr ies for 1985-90. Structural stability in a model of the former suggest s that no competitiveness improvement has occurred in domestic UK manu facturing which matches that found elsewhere for exports. The panel mo del shows the important impact of standards on imports, while confirmi ng that skilled labour shortages are a key source of volatility.