Computer services and the development of rural areas: Trends in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s

Abstract

Some researchers hypothesize that the increasing use of computers and telecommunications will lead to a greater flexibility in the location of jobs, particularly in nonmetro counties. Others see the continued dominance of metro counties, especially in well-paid employment. This research examines change in employment in the service category of computer and data processing comparing this with the broader categories of business and producer services. Trends in metro and nonmetro counties of the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s are evaluated to see if inequality between county types in these industry categories widened or narrowed over time. Findings from this research indicate that while nonmetro counties did increase their share of overall employment, employment in producer, business and, notably, computer services remained highly concentrated in metro counties. Location quotients also show that computer service employment was increasingly over-represented in dominant metro economies. In addition, the inequality in estimated salaries between the two largest metro counties in the region and other county types increased substantially in the short time period under consideration.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by Project SNP00981, Washington State University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics Agricultural Research Center. The author would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Notes

1 Kusmin (1996) reports that computer use by rural workers increased rapidly between 1984 and 1993. However, the gap with metro areas also increased because computer use rose more rapidly in urban areas. Thus, rural businesses and residents must become familiar, not with a technology, but with a continually evolving set of technologies. This is true in urban areas as well. However, urban areas may have more resources to keep pace with these changes. Rowley and Porterfield (1993) foresee demand remaining low in rural communities until both businesses and residents become familiar and comfortable with these new technologies.

2 As Gatrell (1999) notes, the rapid rise of information technologies should enhance the development capabilities of rural areas, but this potential requires the active involvement of all levels of government.

3 The subcategory of computer and data processing services (SIC 737) includes computer programming (SIC 7371), prepackaged software (7372), computer integrated systems design (7373), data processing and preparation (7374), information retrieval services (7375), computer facilities management (7376), computer rental and leasing (7377), and computer maintenance and repair 7378).

4 While NAICS should enhance the study of employment change in the future, for some sectors it will be very difficult to compare trends between the SIC and NAICS classification systems for small counties because of data suppression.

5 In considering decentralization of employment, this research looks only at the number of employees. With County Business Patterns it is not possible to analyze trends in firm location.

6 Two small metropolitan counties in Washington, Benton and Franklin, have been placed in the nonmetro category because of data suppression problems.