In the 1970s, new technology and competition from Japan devastated the globally dominant Swiss mechanical watch industry. Tate Twinam (William & Mary) explains the industry’s 500 year history in Switzerland, the “quartz crisis” that emerged in the 1970s, what happened to tens of thousands of displaced Swiss workers, and potential implications for policymakers today (28:35).
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- Tate Twinam. 2022. “Trade competition and migration: Evidence from the quartz crisis,” Journal of International Economics 138: 103653.