Development of American Metropolitan Industrial Complexes

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The changes currently reshaping the geography of manufacturing activities in the U.S. have received considerable scholarly attention. Among the important questions being asked are: How have changing technologies altered the locational requirements of firms? and How have changing forms of management altered the relationships among firms? This is not the first time that American industry has undergone dramatic transformations, however. From 1860 to 1880, new technologies and management practices fundamentally altered the locational structure of American manufacturing. This project will examine the formation and development of industrial complexes in large northeastern U.S. metropolises from 1860 to 1880. Manufacturing data based on 4-digit standard industrial codes will be used to analyze the changing mixes of 16 metropolitan complexes. These data analyses will be complemented by reviews of articles in business periodicals and by case studies of selected firms and industries that will seek to identify and explain the decision making of entrepreneurs, the market areas of goods, and linkages among firms. Case studies of industrial complexes in Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, and the Pittsburgh-Cleveland corridor will amplify on the relationships detected in the general study. This research will complement work already completed in many of the study areas, enhancing our knowledge about the complex dynamics at work in the evolution of major American industrial centers in the latter part of the 19th Century. Even more importantly, it will provide the basis for elaboration of a model of metropolitan industrial complex development. This model will provide a basis for assessing other industrial transformations in the past, and it will provide a new perspective for evaluating contemporary manufacturing growth.