A Decomposition of Ireland's Manufacturing Industry: Technological Change, Productivity Improvement and associated Regional Patterns (1991 - 2007)

Abstract: This thesis presents a decomposition of Ireland’s manufacturing industry with respect to technological change, addressing productivity improvement and how these changes affect the regional system during transformation. This work is primarily based on the technology shift thesis, encompassing improvements in productivity arising from technological advancement and their associated divergence/convergence traits. Also of considerable importance, especially in Ireland’s case is technology transfer through Foreign Direct Investment. Therefore, this consideration and its implications for technological and productivity change are addressed in depth. This research found that structural change has and is occurring in Ireland’s manufacturing industry, with higher technology industries coming to comprise greater proportions of the overall productivity over time. Divergence and convergence trends are also evident, with some regions at first seeing increases in productivity before others. FDI was found to play a very important role in Ireland’s manufacturing productivity improvement, although the level of embeddedness, particularly in relation to some industry groups, could be questioned.