Industrial Shifts and Uneven Development

Abstract

The authors explore patterns of employment and population change in 140 U.S. metropolitan areas from the early 1970s to the late 1980s using U.S. government data. Their analysis generated a typology of six broad types of metropolitan areas suggestive of changing production functions. Regional patterns of change revealed by their typology suggested regional differences which they subjected to regression analyses to assess the relationships among change in manufacturing employment, employment more generally, and population. Their findings have implications for the theoretical understanding of the relationship between employment and population and the practical concerns of urban and economic policy.