The Covid-19 crisis and manufacturing: How should national and local industrial strategies respond?

Harris Jl, P Sunley, E Evenhuis, Ronald Martin, A Pike and R Harris
Additional contact information
P Sunley: 7423University of Southampton, UK
E Evenhuis: PBL, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Netherlands
A Pike: 5994Newcastle University, UK
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Richard Ian Harris ()

Local Economy, 2020, vol. 35, issue 4, 403-415

Abstract: The ongoing Covid-19 crisis and recession represent one of the biggest shocks to the UK manufacturing ecosystem yet, and comes at a time when the ecosystem was already in a worrying situation after decades of deindustrialisation, a decade of austerity and an impending ‘Brexit’. The effects of this shock will also be unevenly felt due to the geography of the UK manufacturing ecosystem, amplifying the need for a successful response to ensure that places are not left (further) behind. This paper assesses the pre-Covid-19 ecosystem to ascertain the areas and industries likely to be particularly impacted by the crisis, and to understand existing issues. These issues are important to consider due to the implications for choosing strategies moving forward, for which two are appraised here. First, the reshoring of supply chains is considered in light of recent government comments, but difficulties in implementation may arise due to the highly fragmented nature of UK policy frameworks. Second, an acceleration of the ‘grand challenges’ approach is likely but limited by issues of connectivity in the ecosystem and small and medium-sized firm disengagement. We suggest that any strategy moving forward must strike a balance between such strategies

Keywords: advanced manufacturing; Covid-19; grand challenges policy; recession; reshoring supply chains; UK manufacturing; UK policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:loceco:v:35:y:2020:i:4:p:403-415

DOI: 10.1177/0269094220953528

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