International differences in industrial structure; eight nations in the 1950s, / by Joe S. Bain.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-200).

Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Preamble -- The general composition of eight national economies and of their manufacturing sectors – Comparative plant size and concentration in selected manufacturing industries -- Comparative company concentration in selected manufacturing industries -- Comparative relationships of plant to company concentration -- The rationale of structural differences -- Appendixes -- Bibliography -- Index.

"A beginning is made here in the development of a literature in which the industrial structure of different countries is compared on the basis of facts and statistics rather than impressions and folklore. Because of the scarcity of available data, Mr. Bain has focused on a diversified sample of eight countries: Canada, France, India, Italy, Japan, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. For these countries, comparisons are made, for a wide range of manufacturing industries, of the absolute sizes of plants, of plant concentration, and of concentration of control , together with an analysis of the extent to which international differences in company concentration can be explained by differences in plant concentration and in the degrees of multiplant development by large firms. Mr, Bain examines also the importance and apparent role of super-control groups, cartelization, nationalized industries, government regulation, and import competition, and attempts to estimate the comparative efficiency of the manufacturing industry in the eight countries. He concludes by constructing a tentative economic rationale for his findings, and points the way to further work in the area of study he has opened up. A novelty in its field, the text of this work, together with its copious bibliography of exotic sources, should serve as an interesting source book to students of both industrial organization and of economic development." -- back cover.