ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an extension to the equipment hypothesis by showing the equal importance of skills as equipment investment, to economic growth. It examines the die and mould-making industry in Japan and Ireland as an example of an industry where skills, in relation to machinery and equipment, are essential for economic performance. The kanagata industry is outstanding in its heavy reliance on both skills and machinery equipment. It is a major supporting industry of the machinery industry in Japan. Technologically, toolmaking is subsumed under mechanical engineering, conventionally classed as low-to-medium technology, and die and mould-making classed as medium-high technology. Foreign-owned companies have overwhelmingly captured large parts of manufacturing as a whole and have contributed greatly to economic growth in Ireland. The chapter explains some case studies of the die and mould-making industry in Japan and in Ireland showed the equal importance of skills as equipment investment for successful performance.
