Picking a Winner? Evidence from the Non-Manufacturing High-Tech Industry in the Blacksburg MSA

Bieri, David (2006): Picking a Winner? Evidence from the Non-Manufacturing High-Tech Industry in the Blacksburg MSA.

Abstract

Regional scientists have developed numerous concepts and measures of economic diversity and diversification, primarily motivated by the desire to establish a relationship between diversity and economic performance. Rather than striving for a unified theory with a singular measure, this paper argues that economic developers should employ a multi-dimensional framework that combines the comparative advantages of a range of theoretical approaches. The application of locational, agglomerational and risk-reward measures to the non-manufacturing high-tech industry for the Blacksburg MSA in southwestern Virginia reveals specific policy implications and offers lessons for economic policy design.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic Development; Industry Concentration; Dispersion; Quantitative Measures
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O14 - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology