University of California, Los Angeles Regional differences in technology are conventionally explained by variation in the pace of innovation. Yet production varies also as a result of imitation and firm entry and exit. The proposed research will address four objectives. These are to measure the extent of regional differences in production techniques in the U.S. across a series of closely defined industries, to examine how variance in regional production technology moves over time, to estimate the relative importance of the four major factors influencing regional technology over space and ,finally, to test a series of hypotheses linking technical change, technological variety and economic performance. Descriptive measures of performance and a multivariate analysis of variance will be used to test numerous specific hypotheses surrounding induced innovation and evolutionary accounts of technical change.
