ABSTRACT
In Chapters 1 and 2 we were concerned with the role which US-financed firms have played in the past, and are playing today, in influencing the course and direction of British industrial development. The present chapter tries to assess the more important aspects of the impact made by such firms-in whatever industry they may be producing-on those industries’ structure and efficiency, and on how their British competitors have been affected in consequence. What, for example, has been the influence of the pricing policy adopted by US subsidiaries and Anglo-American concerns? How far does the research, manufacturing and managerial expertise which such firms derive from their US associates affect their market positions? To what extent has the structure of UK industry been made more or less conducive to economic change and development by their presence?
