Trends and Determinants of the Geographic Dispersion of Irish Manufacturing Activity, 1926- 1996

Eric Strobl ()

Regional Studies, 2004, vol. 38, issue 2, 191-205

Abstract: Strobl E. (2004) Trends and determinants of the geographic dispersion of Irish manufacturing activity, 1926-1996, Reg. Studies 38, 191-205. This paper documents the trends in localization of the Irish manufacturing sector since the 1920s and investigates which of three prominent models is most consistent with the data. We find that aggregate manufacturing activity experienced an inverted u-shaped pattern of localization and is now more dispersed than it was in the 1920s. Our analysis of individual sub-sectors shows that, while this long-term trend holds for many of these, there is a considerable amount of heterogeneity in the extent and the evolution of their geographic dispersion. An econometric analysis of a panel of sub-sectors reveals that there is support for old and new trade theories, as well as economic geography models, in explaining location of the more modern manufacturing industries over the long run. For the more recent period since 1972 we find evidence consistent with new economic geography models for all manufacturing industries, while external economies arising from spillovers through foreign direct investment have acted to disperse modern manufacturing activities.

Keywords: Geographic concentration; Ireland; Concentration geographique; Irlande; Geographische Konzentration; Irland; Concentracion geografica; Irlanda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0034340042000190163 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:regstd:v:38:y:2004:i:2:p:191-205

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CRES20

DOI: 10.1080/0034340042000190163

Access Statistics for this article

Regional Studies is currently edited by Ivan Turok

More articles in Regional Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().