Industry Agglomerations and Employment Change in Non‐Metropolitan Areas

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of industry agglomerations on industry-level employment change in non-metro areas of the United States. Regression analysis of cross-sectional data is used to estimate the determinants of non-metro 1981–1992 employment change for ten two-digit SIC manufacturing industries. Industry agglomerations in metro and non-metro areas are identified using cluster analysis. Area characteristics included in the regression equations are diversity of the local economy, industry mix, average plant size and availability of urbanization economies. The findings indicate that industry agglomerations were associated with both larger employment gains in areas with growing industry employment and larger employment losses for areas with declining employment. Neither regional specialization in the industry nor nearby metro agglomerations were significant determinants of employment change in non-metro areas.