Producer services, agglomeration economies and intra-metropolitan location: The public accounting industry in the Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul regions

Through an analysis of the intra-metropolitan location of producer services in general, and the public accounting industry in particular, this dissertation examines the unique locational of attributes central cities and the importance of agglomeration economies in infra-metropolitan location decisions. Specifically, this dissertation documents the infra-metropolitan spatial patterns and trends of producer services within 20 metropolitan areas in the United States. This macro approach provides the backdrop for a more in-depth investigation of the public accounting industry in the Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul regions via a telephone survey of public accounting offices, interviews with public accounting executives and secondary data analysis.;Despite the emergence of suburban employment centers, which have increased their share of regional employment in producer services in recent decades, my findings indicate that producer service jobs remain more concentrated in central cities than total employment. In explaining these spatial patterns theorists have long contended that producer services remain bound to the central city by agglomeration economies unique to the urban core. Although proximity to clients and the workforce are key determinants of where public accounting offices locate, other factors associated with agglomeration economies---proximity to collaborators, competitors, and suppliers and subcontractors---are considerably less influential in intra-metropolitan location decisions.;These findings suggest that the agglomeration argument has been overstated with respect to the intra-metropolitan location of the public accounting industry. Findings also indicate that the traditional conception of agglomeration economies as confined to a particular municipality or district are spatially restrictive. For public accounting offices, the benefits of proximity and co-location extend well beyond the central business district or particular edge city, spanning municipal boundaries.;These findings do not suggest however, that a central city location is unimportant. The city's 'central place' within the metropolitan region, enhanced by its positioning on regional transportation networks, gives it a unique advantage essential in serving a dispersed metropolitan client base, accessing collaborators and subcontractors, and attracting and retaining area workers. Thus, for public accounting offices, the key advantage of a central city location is not the city's tight proximity, but the access it offers to the metropolitan region.