Economic conversion,
defence conversion, or
arms conversion, is a
technical,
economic and
political process for moving from
military to
civilian markets. Economic conversion takes place on several levels and can be applied to different organizations. In terms of levels (roughly corresponding to
geographic scales), conversion can take place at the level of new innovation projects, divisions within multi-divisional firms, companies, and national economies. In terms of objects, conversion can govern
workers (i.e. retraining),
firms (in terms of workers, capital, facilities and real estate) and land (in terms of
real estate). Some of these scales obviously overlap. Organizations that can be converted include defense firms, military bases, and defense laboratories.