Chapter 8: Why Industry Came South
Cobb is starting to wrap up the book. In this chapter he addresses the main question: Why did industries locate in the South?
Was it access to cheap labor? Access to markets? Access to raw materials and natural resources? Access to government subsidies?
In brief, the answer is "Yes. But not all of those things, everywhere, all the time."
Industries varied in the importance of market access, labor costs, and need for raw materials.
Government subsidies mattered the most to extremely competitive and cost-conscious industries like textiles. But once an industry had two or more suitable locations in mind, subsidies and other government aid could tip the balance. In a competition between closely-matched locations, secondary factors could become of primary improtance.
The most attractive subsidy varied by industry also. IRBs were attractive to those with high capital costs relative to labor costs. But were less attractive to those with high labor costs.
This is an interesting chapter in the details he gives. But if you've read any amount of industrial location literature, you'll find nothing too surprising.
Cobb, J.C. (1993). The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990. (2nd Ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Posted by Chip on July 10, 2004 at 08:13 PM | TrackBack