British manufacturing financial performance, 1950-79: Implications for the productivity debate and the post-war consensus

D.M. Higgins

doi:10.1080/713999322

British manufacturing financial performance, 1950-79: Implications for the productivity debate and the post-war consensus

D.M. Higgins

The York Management School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article applies accounting rates of return (ROCE) to the debate on the post-war consensus. Using a sample which contains over 39,000 company years divided between 15 manufacturing industries, we examine the speed and extent of convergence in ROCE through time, between industries, and between firms. We find there is some support for the Broadberry-Crafts argument that anti-competitive practices, enshrined in the post-war consensus, appear to have hindered the efficient working of the economy and, by implication, the reallocation of resources to their most profitable uses. However, this support depends crucially upon the type of measurement adopted. We find that the Broadberry-Crafts argument works best when applied to differences in ROCE between industries rather than firms. We suggest that differences in ROCE between firms can be equally well explained by appeal to the resource based view of the firm.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	52-71
Number of pages	19
Journal	Business History
Volume	45
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/713999322
Publication status	Published - Jul 2003

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10.1080/713999322

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713999322

Cite this

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abstract = "This article applies accounting rates of return (ROCE) to the debate on the post-war consensus. Using a sample which contains over 39,000 company years divided between 15 manufacturing industries, we examine the speed and extent of convergence in ROCE through time, between industries, and between firms. We find there is some support for the Broadberry-Crafts argument that anti-competitive practices, enshrined in the post-war consensus, appear to have hindered the efficient working of the economy and, by implication, the reallocation of resources to their most profitable uses. However, this support depends crucially upon the type of measurement adopted. We find that the Broadberry-Crafts argument works best when applied to differences in ROCE between industries rather than firms. We suggest that differences in ROCE between firms can be equally well explained by appeal to the resource based view of the firm.",

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