The form and location of industrial production in the U.S. and other western nations has changed dramatically in the last few decades. Traditional methods consisted of concentrated, assembly-line production with high degrees of vertical integration among firms (now termed "fordism" in recognition of the role of the U.S. automobile manufacturer in developing this system early in the century). This structure has been supplanted by new modes of "flexible production," in which firms use operational and locational styles to permit maximum flexibility in response to rapidly changing patterns of international demand and activity by their competitors. These new modes of production have been pioneered in newer "high technology" industries, but their impact now is felt in all industrial sectors. Social scientists have examined various facets of this change through a variety of case studies, but no comprehensive, cross-sectoral and cross-locational comparison has been made of the impacts of changing industrial production on urban systems. This project will identify the social and economic bases of major concentrations of high-technology industries in southern California and will investigate the impacts of these concentrations on the growth and geographic structure of the region. Four specific facets of high- technology industrial development will be examined in both theoretical and empirical contexts: the development and innovation of technology, the processes of industrial organization, labor markets, and locational dynamics. Theoretical work will result in development of a locational model of high-technology industries, which will be tested through detailed examination of firms in southern California. This testing will include an inventory of all high-technology firms in the region and detailed analyses of electronics and aerospace industries through the use of surveys and interviews. Analyses will be made of specific locational issues among and between industries, including the presence of external economies, the extent of vertical integration, and the organizational and labor market characteristics of firms. Additional inquiries will focus on the relationship of industrial development with the demographic character and educational levels of industrial labor forces, and on the impacts of industrial change on patterns of regional growth. These empirical analyses will consist of standard forms of statistical and cartographic analysis of extensive data from published sources and data gathered in original surveys and interviews. The benefits of this research will be multi-faceted. The theoretical bases relating industrial development and urban structure will be enhanced through both expansion of theory and the rigorous empirical testing of related hypotheses. Knowledge of the specifics of high-technological developmental also will be greatly enhanced, greatly extending our understanding of how such industries grow and function in general and in southern California, where they have had such profound impacts on one of the nation's largest and most rapidly growing metropolitan complexes.
