Performance of urban information technology centers: the boom, the bust, and the future

Mary Daly and Robert Valletta

Economic Review, 2004, 1-18

Abstract: After being emblematic of the U.S. economic surge in the late 1990s, urban areas that specialize in information technology (IT) products have more recently been struggling with the aftermath of the IT spending bust. To what degree can they bounce back and reemerge as leaders of innovative activity and production in the IT sector? We examine the characteristics of some of the nations leading IT centers, linking these characteristics to a discussion of economic research concerning the sources of growth in urban industrial centers. Although each of these IT centers was hit hard by the IT bust beginning in 2000, the full impact varies depending on the size, density, and composition of the local IT sector. Some IT centers are better positioned than others to resume a rapid growth path as the IT sector recovers, depending on factors such as reliance on manufacturing versus services, diversity of the product base, innovative capacity, and ability to respond to changing conditions such as the recent rise in IT imports and overseas production.

Keywords: Information technology; Economic conditions; Employment - San Francisco (Calif.) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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