The Spatial Component of the Post-Industrial Society

The growth and decentralization of the American economy during the 1970s was accompanied by an increasing divergence in structure between core and periphery as to the degree to which either was specialized or diversified. A diversified economy was defined as one in which the relationship that exists...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic geography 1985-07, Vol.61 (3), p.223-240
Main Author: Keinath, William F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ALL ENDEAVORS IN SPACE, ALL SPACE-RELATED TOPICS
ALL OR MOST INDUSTRY
Crop diversification
DECENTRALIZATION
Decentralization in industry
Economic development
Economic geography
Economic growth
Economic indices
Economic regions
Economic sectors
ECONOMICS
EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY
GROWTH (ALL TYPES)
INCOME
Industries
INTEGRATION
Local economy
Manufacturing industries
POLITICAL DEMAND(S)
Regionalism
Service industries
SOCIETY AS A WHOLE
United States
UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT
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Summary:The growth and decentralization of the American economy during the 1970s was accompanied by an increasing divergence in structure between core and periphery as to the degree to which either was specialized or diversified. A diversified economy was defined as one in which the relationship that exists between the sizes of its sectors is closer to equality than what is true for a specialized one. When this concept was applied to income data for 183 B.E.A. economic areas, it was found that there was a relationship between growth and the degree to which each area was diversified in 1978, and that the strength of the relationship had increased since 1971. The high growth periphery was becoming more diversified while the low growth core was becoming more specialized. Increasing peripheral diversification was attributed to a better response to a more diversified national demand for its goods and services, especially in the tertiary sector. In addition, nowhere was manufacturing developing into the large, integrated industrial complexes so typical of the core. The result was the development of a post-industrial economy that had acquired a degree of diversity in its structure such that it could no longer be described with a sector name.
ISSN:0013-0095
1944-8287
DOI:10.2307/143559