[May 2002]

New study of British and German Ceramic Tableware Industries Published

The average quality of German production is significantly superior to that of British-made goods, and this is an important factor in understanding the current productivity gap, according to a new study of Product Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness: A Study of the British and German Ceramic Tableware Industries.

These findings are the result of a two-year research project looking specifically at the
importance of differences in product quality in the ceramic tableware industries in Britain and Germany. The research was carried out jointly by the National Institute of Economic & Social Research (NIESR) and the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), and financed by the Industry Economics and Statistics Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry. Based on factory observations and discussions with trade experts in Britain and Germany, the research covers a wide range of issues of relevance to questions of UK competitiveness, including:

· A detailed comparison of real productivity in matched British and German plants;
· An evaluation of the principal physical and aesthetic features which distinguish products of different qualities in this industry;
· Quantification of the average magnitude of quality differences in UK and German
production;
· A careful examination of differences in plant, machinery, labour usage and qualifications in the two countries; as well as
· An examination of the different production strategies used in the two countries.

Product quality, productivity and competitiveness - a study of the British and German ceramic tableware industries is available as:
Occasional Paper No. 55 (ISBN 0 9526213 9 8),
price £15.00 from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research,
2 Dean Trench Street,
Smith Square,
London,
SW1P 3HE

Tel: 020 7654 1901
Fax: 020 7654 1900
e-mail: h.barnes@niesr.ac.uk

ENDS

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