Structural crisis
A structural crisis is an economic situation in which almost all companies in a single market , an industry or an entire economic sector suffer from excess production or supply over the long term . A structural crisis can primarily affect certain regions or industries , but it can also take on national or even global economic dimensions.
The main characteristic of a structural crisis is the long-term (structural) decline in demand . A lasting difference between demand and supply can have several causes:
- Establishment and maintenance of production capacities that exceed demand ,
- Productivity increases through technical progress , e.g. B. through the introduction of new technologies and progressive automation
- altered consumer behavior of consumers
- changed investment behavior of the economy or the state
- superior substitution competition , e.g. B. through new products or cheap imports
Necessary structural adjustments on a larger scale generate positive feedback in the event of a crisis , especially on the labor market . Additional unemployment arises , which exacerbates the crisis situation and allows it to spill over to other companies, industries or larger economic areas. As part of the social market economy , it is therefore one of the main tasks of the state , the economic conditions by means of economic , financial and social policy , general structural policy measures to be designed so that such structural adjustments do not lead to mass unemployment.
In wirtschaftsgeografischer respects structural crises often go from Monostructures out and lead to economic and social problems of entire regions where the economy exclusively or primarily to certain monocultures was organized or individual industries. Examples are the coal crisis and the steel crisis in the 1970s, which cost the Ruhr area many jobs and which resulted in a structural crisis that continues to this day. This phenomenon occurs in many old industrialized areas. In addition to the Ruhr area, the z. This is also the case, for example, in Northern England or in the Manufacturing Belt in the USA .
Regional and industrial structural change in connection with supporting social policy measures can be ways out of the structural crisis.
See also
literature
- Herbert Biermann: Starting points for a general structural policy. Destabilization of management bodies and / or organizations as a prerequisite for competition and democracy (= Volkswirtschaftliche Schriften. Vol. 242). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1976; ISBN 3-428-03521-6 , p. 91 ff.
- Michael Fritsch , Thomas Wein, Hans-Jürgen Ewers : Market Failure and Economic Policy. Microeconomic foundations of government action. 7th, updated and supplemented edition. Vahlen, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8006-3462-0 .
- Heinz-Dietrich Ortlieb, Friedrich-Wilhelm Dörge (ed.): Model analyzes of political problems. Volume 2: Economic order and structural policy. Textbook on economic policy. 2nd Edition. Leske, Opladen 1970.
- Hans-Rudolf Peters : Economic Policy. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich et al. 2000, ISBN 3-486-25502-9 , pp. 193f.
- Otto Schlecht : Structural politics in the market economy (= series of publications of the Research Institute for Economic Constitution and Competition eV Cologne. Vol. 46, ISSN 0174-0210 ). Heymann, Cologne et al. 1968.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Norbert Eickhof: Fighting structural crises through innovation and cooperation. Mohr Siebeck 1982. ISBN 3-16-344519-5 . P. 15f.