Industrial Transition and the Location of High-Technology Branch Plants in the Nonmetropolitan Southeast

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the broad issue of industrial restructuring in the South, focusing on the role of industrial experience as a locational influence on selected high-technology industrial sectors. All counties in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia are initially included in an examination using published data sources. A subsequent more detailed analysis covers only high-technology branch plants in nonmetropolitan counties, using questionnaires as the primary source of information. It is concluded that no clear labor-oriented industrial transition process is identifiable in these states and that the introduction of high-technology branch plants to the nonmetropolitan South should not necessarily be interpreted as a meaningful departure from past industrial trends.