Origins and Evolution of the Australian Machine Tool Industry

This paper explores the conditions under which a specialist machine tool industry emerges during the course of development. It uses Kaldors four stages of development and cumulative causation as a theoretical framework for studying these conditions in the context of the Australian industry. The paper analyses the links between the development of a machine tool industry and the development of manufacturing industry overall, drawing on interviews and case studies of Australian firms as well as data from government assistance programs. It concludes by questioning the current direction of government policy, which may undermine past development and set the machine tool industry into cumulative decline.