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The Industrial Resurgence of Southern California? Advanced Ground Transportation Equipment Manufacturing and Local Economic Development

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  • A J Scott

    (Department of Geography and Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, USA)

  • D Bergman

    (Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, USA)

Abstract

Southern California is in a deeply rooted process of economic restructuring. Much of the region's manufacturing base is made up of two groups of industries: A declining aerospace–defense sector, and a low-wage, low-skill sweatshop sector. What are the prospects for creating a growing manufacturing base focused on high-wage, high-skill industries? In this paper we examine the opportunities presented by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $183 billion thirty-year capital improvement plan as the potential catalyst of a set of technological and manufacturing synergies that would reorient the regional economy towards a new advanced ground transportation equipment industry. We investigate the dynamics of agglomerated complexes of industry in general, and the institutional and infrastructural arrangements that create and sustain competitive advantage within regional economic systems. Next, we evaluate the potential for the successful development of a technologically dynamic advanced ground transportation equipment industry in Southern California. This central part of the analysis focuses on (a) the existing industrial assets of the region, (b) specific forms of institution building that need to be carried out in the interests of local economic development and high-quality job creation, and (c) the importance of building a cooperative, high-trust manufacturing system. We then offer suggestions for specific types of policy intervention that might foster new forms of local economic growth. We argue that a coordinated response by both the public and the private sectors could conceivably set the region on a successful new economic development trajectory.

Suggested Citation

  • A J Scott & D Bergman, 1995. "The Industrial Resurgence of Southern California? Advanced Ground Transportation Equipment Manufacturing and Local Economic Development," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 13(1), pages 97-124, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:13:y:1995:i:1:p:97-124
    DOI: 10.1068/c130097
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Russo, Margherita, 1985. "Technical change and the industrial district: The role of interfirm relations in the growth and transformation of ceramic tile production in Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 329-343, December.
    2. Scott, Allen J., 1993. "Electric Vehicle Manufacturing in Southern California: Current Developments, Future Prospects," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt534970wn, University of California Transportation Center.
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    Cited by:

    1. David W. Edgington, 1999. "Firms, Governments and Innovation in the Chukyo Region of Japan," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(2), pages 305-339, February.

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