ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to indicate the circumstances which impeded the response of British shipbuilders to the general market situation. Demand linkage between shipbuilders and ship-owners naturally carried mutual benefits. It became increasingly clear that a central reason for the decline of the industry was the changing pattern of the world demand for shipping and the peculiar institutional reasons which inhibited the British industry as a whole from making prompt and suitable adjustments. The most direct and straightforward measure of the relative decline in British shipbuilding is provided by the trend in the UK share of world shipbuilding output. The changing patterns of the demand for ships presented shipbuilders with challenges and opportunities. The chapter provides some case studies to show how demand and government policy conditioned the calculations of individual enterprises. Technological backwardness was reflected in a lack of price competitiveness by the British industry and, non-price characteristics such as poor delivery performance were a problem.
