Manpower factors and plant closures in multiplant firms

The runaway shop (a plant closure to avoid labour problems) has been seen as a feature of industrial change in the USA. Evidence of the runaway shop has also been noted in the UK. This paper analyses two data sets from the UK. The first, drawn from data relating primarily to the early 1980s, demonstrates that manpower difficulties can affect the closure of plants in multiplant manufacturing firms in particular local labour markets. A second data set, relating to the latter half of the 1980s, presents a contrasting result in that manpower problems had little effect on the closure of plants by British multiplant manufacturing firms. It is suggested these contrasting results may reflect the reduced power of organised labour in the more recent past.