Recent Economic Developments and the Prospects of Industrial Organization

The nineteen eighties must — in retrospect — be considered as an extremely interesting period for students of Industrial Organization (IO). For the US and Western Europe, the decade as a whole signifies turbulent change: having started as the decade of economic crisis it has finished under very prosperous circumstances. Whereas the beginning of the 1980s saw mounting passivity in the business communities of the West, the order of the day is now one of spirit and vivacity. Growth is up again, profits reach unprecedented highs, and business confidence is buoyant. For Japan and several Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) the decade has shown an even better economic performance, supported by a further successful competitive performance in world markets.