| The concept of "industrial district" has emerged as a critical component of industrial location theory and regional economic development policy. Conceptually, an "industrial district" is a relatively small place (area/region) which has a "cluster" of interacting industrial activities. It simultaneously is both a spatial and functional concept. The industrial district literature focuses on several components, including the forces of agglomeration, the networks and relationships among firms, and the functioning of local labor markets. However, the concept is inadequately specified and applied. Industrial districts are commonly assumed (pre-defined) rather than derived (identified). Also, there are no rules or empirical information on the necessary degrees of interactions within an area, which would qualify it as an industrial district. This research does not use pre-defined industrial districts. Rather, it examines actual spatial linkages in efforts to measure degrees of interactions as they really exist. A central concept is Local-ness, interactions or linkages within relatively small areas. Methodologies for measuring degree of local-ness are developed. Local-ness indices are established for inputs, outputs, subcontracting, producer services and information sources, and labor-shed dimensions. The indices are empirically derived for the Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. metropolitan region. The results suggest that simple singly bounded industrial districts do not exist. The metropolitan region is too small to exhibit strong vertical linkages, and horizontal linkages are also mainly with destinations outside of the metropolitan region. Only for labor and producer services can a metropolitan scale argument be made. There are no significant linkages at sub-metropolitan scales. The local-ness index methodology shows promise; more empirical investigation is necessary to establish realistic baseline values. |
