Historic market cycles in the world automotive industry Buchkatalog

Wissenschaftlicher Aufsatz aus dem Jahr 2009 im Fachbereich BWL - Unternehmensforschung, Operations Research, , Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The economic theory of industry lifecycles is a standard tool to explore the historic development of specific industries. Its basic idea is that an industry develops according to a typical, sequential pattern of emergence, rise, maturing and finally decay. This article compares conventional industry lifecycle theory as represented by the seminal approach of Gort and Klepper (Gort / Klepper 1982) with an alternative explanation of industry evolution, i.e. the application of Hirschman's theory of economic development (Hirschman 1958, Hirschman 1968) to specific industries. The world passenger car industry and its long-term history serve as the case of empiric reference. The analysis is non-technical and rests on a limited set of macroscopic parameters (number of manufacturers, market entry and exit, output) in the World's regions (Europe, the Americas, Asia including Oceania).