ABSTRACT
The bearing industry has undergone substantial rationalization in the past ten to fifteen years. This chapter outlines these developments with particular reference to the situation in Western Europe. There the combination of (i) the lure of product specific scale economies whose use was encouraged by trade liberalization and (ii) the threat of Japanese competition were instrumental in the transformation of the industry. One result in Europe was a substantial increase in international intra-industry and intra-firm trade.
