Competitiveness Policy and Economic Organisation: The Case of the British Film Industry

The British film industry has long been characterised as highly volatile, chronically unstable and liable to recurrent crises. The traditional policy response up until the 1980s involved support through a mixture of quotas, fiscal support and industry levies. During the 1980s this policy stance was reversed as deregulation and the exposure of the industry to market forces were seen as key to enhancing its economic performance. More recently, a new policy preoccupation with, and orientation to, the film industry has emerged. The film industry on this view is characterised as possessing inherent but unrealised potential which it is the role of government, albeit operating in tandem with the market, to unlock. The aim of this paper is to examine more precisely the nature of this emerging 'competitiveness policy', using film as a focus for a conceptual and theoretical examination of the issues involved. We explore the relationship between competitiveness and organisational form and consider the potential of various kinds of policy intervention to transform the prospects of a sector such as film in the face of the weight of its historical development. We suggest that a 'path-dependent' perspective on competitiveness supports the belief that policy can most effectively operate through identifying the distinctive capabilities of British producers and by promoting 'structural' change, that is to say, the development of forms of contractual cooperation which can allow for the effective management of risk and uncertainty. The success of film policy in promoting organisation innovations of this kind will show whether, in a wider context, competitiveness policy can succeed in its goal of moving the market 'in the right direction'.