An Examination of the Trend in Industrial Dispersion in Oklahoma From 1963 Through 1974

Abstract

Descriptive data have been used to show how industrial job creation is growing faster in nonmetro areas than in metro areas. For example, Haren [5] and Till [11] describe industrial decentralization in the 60s. Janssen and Tweeten [7] illustrate how the trend has continued into the 70s. In Oklahoma, Childs and Doeksen [1] report on how industry has decentralized from 1963 through 1971.The objective of this paper is to examine and statistically test the dispersion of new manufacturing jobs with respect to size of community in Oklahoma from 1963 through 1974. Previous studies have either been descriptive or have used some measure of dispersion, such as entropy, without statistically testing the results.