Restructuring on a vertiginous plateau: The evolutionary trajectories of British Columbia’s forest industries 1980–2010 |
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| Institution: | 1. Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Avenida Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Distrito Federal;2. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Güemes 1030, 8520, San Antonio Oeste, Río Negro, Argentina;3. Universidad de la Sierra Sur, División de Estudios de Postgrado, Guillermo Rojas Mijangos S/N, C. P. 70800, Ciudad Universitaria, Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, Oaxaca, Mexico;3. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Colonia Vicentina, Iztapalapa 09340, México;4. Unidad de Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM-Hospital General de México, Dr. Balmis 148, Colonia Doctores, Cuauhtémoc 06726, México |
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| Abstract: | The volatility of British Columbia’s (BC’s) forest industries over the last three decades has not only reflected the immediate impacts of demand fluctuations arising from the broader vicissitudes of capitalist economies but the evolutionary implications of industrial and resource dynamics. The 1980s recession in particular marked a turning point in the evolutionary trajectory of BC’s forest industries, associated with global paradigmatic changes driven by flexibility imperatives, the maturation of the forestry resource cycle to the plateau or fall-down stage, and conflicts caused by environmental, social and trade protectionist opposition to vested industry interests. This paper focuses on the broad contours of the restructuring of BC’s forest industries since 1980. Conceptually, the paper elaborates a resource industry life-cycle model (RILCM) that integrates industry and resource cycle dynamics and the implications of economic crisis. Empirically, the analysis uses longitudinal output and employment data, summaries of the policy re-regulation of the BC forest economy since 1980, and comparative static plant-level data, 1980–2008. The analysis reveals the 1980s recession as a turning point in the transformation of BC’s forest industries, characterized by high levels of volatility and long-term decline in the main commodities. Industrial restructuring has also witnessed a fragmentation of production, the emergence of small firm dominated value-added activities, and broad changes to the coreperiphery structure of the forest industries within BC. It is argued that evolutionary approaches to economic geography need to incorporate resource peripheries and crisis and acknowledge the role of crisis and non-economic factors in shaping regional transformation. |
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