Industrial dynamics is the study of the means and processes through which industries change over time, through their own processes of evolution – as first analyzed by Joseph Schumpeter. It is the complementary study to that of an industry’s comparative statics, which still dominates economic analysis. Industrial dynamics, as studied by scholars such as Carlsson and Eliasson, reveal the basic underlying forces driving industry evolution. Some industries, particularly those with rapid product turnover or high levels of capital expenditure, reveal special dynamics moving through intrinsic upturns and downturns that are not necessarily related to the wider economic fluctuations. These are known as cyclical industrial dynamics. They have recently come under investigation in the specialized literature. Prevalence of industry cycles Almost all industries exhibit cyclicality to some extent. Below are some examples where industry cycles have been particularly examined. Commodities The research by John Sterman finds that the so-called commodity cycles arise in many commodity markets. For example, price and production cycles in markets of hog, cattle and copper span 4 years, 10–12 years and 8–10 years each in average respectively. Margret Slade estimates that cycles in prices of metals including aluminum, copper, iron, lead, silver, tin, and zinc are about 10–14 years in duration, which is twice as long as the investment periods. The study by Thomas Stanback indicates a persistent cycle of approximately two years duration in the textile industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Alajoutsijärvi and colleagues report that the cycle in the German paper industry has shortened in duration since 1990, and is now about two or three years in length. Durable goods Based on his observations of the explicit cyclical movement in the shipbuilding industry, Nobel Prize-winning economist Jan Tinbergen believes the so-called ‘durable goods cycle’ is a result of the lag of the upstream industries such as shipbuilding in response to the cycles in end users markets such as that in freight rates. He further suggests that the cycle length of the upstream industry is four times the lag, and is about 17 years in the shipbuilding industry. Besides the traditional industries, many new industries such as semiconductors, flat panel displays, computers and telecommunications also exhibit strong cyclicality. Services In the service sector, for example, Choi and colleagues date the industry cycles of the US hotel industry and restaurant industry. They establish the mean duration of the business cycle, measured with aggregate activities in absolute