The foreign-owned manufacturing sector in UK peripheral regions, 1978-1993: Restructuring and comparative performance

This paper presents an analysis of foreign direct investment (FDI) trends since the late 1970s in the four main peripheral regions of the UK. Using unpublished database sources, it analyses the changing significance of the foreign-owned manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the North of England and the sector's performance in terms of number of plants and associated employment alongside that of the indigenous sector in each of the legions. It reveals distinct differences in performance between the regions. Through identifying the main components contributing to overall change, the study provides insights into this aspect of regional restructuring, specifically the importance to employment change of new plants relative to that of closures, acquisitions and in situ expansions and contractions. It also shows that the regional differences in overall FDI performance is not merely the outcome of relative success in terms of attracting new plants, but reflects also superior performances in relation to other key components of change. Finally, it is shown that regional foreign-owned manufacturing sector performance does seem to be linked to the patterns of FDI change associated with the main countries/regions of investment origin.