Contemporary Deindustrialisation and Tertiarisation in the London Economy

Abstract

This study provides an empirical examination of recent change in the London economy to assess the degree to which the processes of deindustrialisation and tertiarisation have affected the capital. Three different components of the London economy are considered-output, establishment structure and employment. It is demonstrated that each of these has changed in different ways and that this raises subtle questions as to how deindustrialisation and tertiarisation have affected London. In particular, it is shown that in both the service and manufacturing sectors substantial productivity gains have been made, and that the economic structure of the capital appears to be changing in a completely different way from that of the rest of the nation. Difficulties and inconsistencies clearly arise when using the concepts of deindustrialisation and tertiarisation to analyse economic change in London. Analysis based on the distinct nature of the economic activities located within the capital related to its specialist role as a global city would seem to offer greater analytical potential.