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References
Beer, J. J.,The Emergence of the German Dye Industry (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1959), pp. 70–95; Haber, L. F.,The Chemical Industry, 1900–30: International Growth and Technological Change (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), pp. 42–50.
Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for the year 1916–17, Cd. 8718 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1917), p. 10.
Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for the year 1915–16, Cd. 8336 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1916), pp. 24, 42. “[R]esearch ... requires a very large expenditure on brains and equipment. It also requires continuous effort. The firm that starts out upon this quest must either be very powerful or it must find the necessary strength in association with others.”Ibid. Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for the year 1915–16, Cd. 8336 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1916), p. 41.
Public Record Office, File 16/1, DSIR, “First proof of the government scheme for industrial research” (June 1917).
Ibid. DSIR, “First proof of the government scheme for industrial research” (June 1917).
Public Record Office, File 17/1, DSIR, “Memorandum on the Proposed New Arrangements for Grants to Scientific and Professional Institutions”, appendix 3 (6 June, 1917).
“The policy ... would be that the Department would confine their activities to promoting and encouraging research instead of gradually sweeping into the net of Government control and organisation the existing research activities in this country”.Ibid. DSIR, “Memorandum on the Proposed New Arrangements for Grants to Scientific and Professional Institutions”, appendix 3 (6 June, 1917).
Public Record Office, File 1/2, DSIR, Advisory Council minute 134 (19 February, 1919).
A research association was expected to conduct research into problems of general interest to the members, and to communicate the results if “of value for national purposes ... to other industries ... on suitable terms of payment”. The selling of “any results ... to a foreign person or to a foreign corporation” was forbidden. Public Record Office, File 16/1,op. cit. DSIR, “First proof of the government scheme for industrial research” (June 1917).
They were required to submit the programme of research for the coming year together with an estimate of expenditure. Sponsored projects and large capital outlays were similarly subject to approval. The annual reports and the audited accounts had also to be sent to the DSIR, which was authorised to carry out inspections.
The Cotton Research Association affords an example. Thirteen members represented firms, five the Federation of Master Cotton Spinners' Associations, two the Employers' Federation of Dyers and Finishers and two the Federation of Calico Printers. “Cotton Industry: New Association”,The Times, 21 February, 1919.
Edwards, R. S.,Co-operative Industrial Research (London: Pitman, 1950), pp. 146–8.
Board of Trade,Final Report of the Committee on Industry and Trade, Cmd. 3282 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1929), p. 217.
Ibid..
Technology Reports Centre (Orpington, Kent), memoirs, bulletins, research reports and technical papers of the research associations and institutes.
A member could also request that a piece of research be undertaken for his sole benefit at cost price.
Contributions to a research association were in addition to be regarded as business costs of the firm and were not to be subject to income or excess profits taxes.
Public Record Office, File 16/13, DSIR, “Memorandum on a Proposal to Pay Grant to the Research Associations beyond the Five Year Period” (19 December, 1922).
Public Record Office, File 1/7, DSIR, Advisory Council minute 28, appendix (1932–3); File 16/26, DSIR, Industrial Grants Committee minute 47 (30 May, 1933).
Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers, formed in 1901, gradually came to dominate the industry through the control of local supplies of raw materials—in 1935 it was among the largest 50 companies. British Portland Cement Manufacturers, a subsidiary formed in 1912, shared with its parent company in the prosperity of the building trades between the wars.
In 1922 there were 25 firms representing 90 per cent. of the capital of the industry.
The research associations were caught by the post-war recession at the most sensitive stage of their development. It was realised that building up an effective laboratory took time, but the length of time was underestimated, particularly when finance was so uncertain. The associations were being expected to prove themselves through the demonstrated utility of their research, when in fact the capacity to perform useful research depended on an assured financial future that the industries, in the absence of a flow of research results, were not prepared to give. Consequently, there were cases—such as silk—in which support was given fully and widely at first but quickly dwindled when it became clear that the association was not going to bring about a sudden solution of the industry's problems. In part, this reflected unrealistic expectations of what scientific research could offer, induced in many instances by a too enthusiastic advocacy on the association's behalf. However, it was equally true that the government's belief that five years would be long enough for industry to come forward with the money, helped to make development slower than it might otherwise have been. The unfavourable economic circumstances after 1920 exacerbated an already difficult situation and helped create in several associations an atmosphere approaching desperation.
The Economist, CXVI (15 April, 1933), p. 830.
Hannah, L., “The Political Economy of Mergers in Manufacturing Industry in Britain between the Wars”, unpublished D. Phil. thesis, Oxford University, 1972, pp. 135–149.
Barna, T., “The Interdependence of the British Economy”,Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, CXV, series A, issue 1, part 1 (1952), pp. 57–58. Other large exporters possessing research associations were non-ferrous metals, silk, cutlery and linen. Paper, the only large importer (25 per cent.) lacking a research association, had a 3 firm concentration ratio of 90 per cent. in 1935. Leak, H., and Maizels, A., “The Structure of British Industry”,Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, CVIII, series, A, issue 1–2 (1945), p. 161.
The connection between research associations and dependence on imports was stronger than with dependence on exports. Coal, chemicals, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, metal goods and aircraft all exported more than 20 per cent., but none had significant research associations. Iron and steel (imports 8 per cent.), rubber (19 per cent.), printing (3 per cent.), electrical engineering (5 per cent.) did. Apparently, co-operative research was undertaken mainly in the hope of finding substitutes for goods hitherto imported from abroad.
Public Record Office, File 17/3, DSIR, “Memorandum on the Government Scheme for Industrial Research” (1925).
Research associations, annual reports, DSIR, Headquarters Library, Department of Industry,passim.
Rowell, H. S., “The Research Association of British Motor and Allied Manufacturers”,Nature, CVI, 2 (22 December, 1920), p. 539.
Research associations, annual reports.
Some major scientific discoveries were partition chromatography, a fundamental advance in protein chemistry (Wool Research Association), and the new ternary alloys (Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association).
Research associations, annual reports.
Holland, Sir Thomas, “The Organisation of Scientific Research throughout the Empire”,Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, LXXIV, 3809 (20 November, 1925), pp. 3–24.
British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association,How Research Saves the Supply Industry 1,000 per cent. more than It Costs; How Research Reduces a Supply Undertaking's Capital Outlay, Working Expenses, Maintenance Charges (London: British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association, 1935).
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,Report for the Year 1933–34, Cmd. 4787 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1934), p. 98.
Board of Trade,Final Report of the Fifth Census of Production and the Import Duties Inquiry Act 1935, Part 1 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1938), pp. 20, 32, 63.Fifth Census of Production, 1935, Part IV, Section IV, (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1944), p. 39.
The Wool Research Association included spinners, combers, finishers and cloth makers. The Cotton Research Association (which won the support of 90 per cent. of firms in the industry) included spinners, manufacturers of cloth, lace and hosiery goods, bleachers, dyers, calico printers, finishers and cotton growers. Similarly, the Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association (covering aluminium, copper, lead, magnesium, nickel, tin and zinc) included firms engaged in mining, smelting, the production of cast and wrought products, and makers of finished products such as machinery and structures.
“The activities of the association have not been fairly divided between the various sections of the industry.” Public Record Office, File 1/4, DSIR, “Report of the Advisory Council on the Inspection of the Glass Research Association” (21 May, 1924).
Johnson, P. S.,Co-operative Research in Industry: An Economic Study (London: Martin Robertson, 1973), p. 151.
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Varcoe, I. Co-operative research associations in British industry, 1918–34. Minerva 19, 433–463 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192824
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192824