IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v21y2007i2p148-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Clusters, Agglomeration, and Economic Development Potential: Empirical Evidence Based on the Advent of Slab Casting by U.S. Steel Minimills

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Giarratani

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Gene Gruver

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Randall Jackson

    (West Virginia University)

Abstract

Ten new steel plants were constructed in the United States from 1989 to 2001, each taking advantage of new steel slab casting technologies that gave scrap-based minimills access to the flat-products market. This market had been served previously exclusively by ore-based integrated mills. Some of the new minimills were built in established steel industry agglomerations. Others were built in greenfield locations with little or no prior steelmaking activity. This research, based on direct observation and plant visits, brings new evidence to bear on the nature and importance of agglomeration economies associated with steel production by analyzing industry clusters related to the advent of slab casting by steel minimills. The authors find that industry clusters can play an important role in the process of market entry; however, certain product and firm characteristics can shape the nature of industry agglomerations and their effect on firms and regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Giarratani & Gene Gruver & Randall Jackson, 2007. "Clusters, Agglomeration, and Economic Development Potential: Empirical Evidence Based on the Advent of Slab Casting by U.S. Steel Minimills," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 21(2), pages 148-164, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:21:y:2007:i:2:p:148-164
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242406298833
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242406298833
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242406298833?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Moomaw, Ronald L., 1983. "Is population scale a worthless surrogate for business agglomeration economies?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 525-545, November.
    3. Cella, Guido, 1984. "The Input-Output Measurement of Interindustry Linkages," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 46(1), pages 73-84, February.
    4. Henderson, Vernon & Kuncoro, Ari & Turner, Matt, 1995. "Industrial Development in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1067-1090, October.
    5. Campbell, John, 1975. "Application of graph theoretic analysis to interindustry relationships : The example of Washington state," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 91-106, February.
    6. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    7. David Newlands, 2003. "Competition and Cooperation in Industrial Clusters: The Implications for Public Policy," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(5), pages 521-532, July.
    8. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    9. Ronald L. Moomaw, 1981. "Productivity and City Size: A Critique of the Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(4), pages 675-688.
    10. Ian R. Gordon & Philip McCann, 2000. "Industrial Clusters: Complexes, Agglomeration and/or Social Networks?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(3), pages 513-532, March.
    11. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Brusco, Sebastiano, 1982. "The Emilian Model: Productive Decentralisation and Social Integration," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 6(2), pages 167-184, June.
    13. Nakamura, Ryohei, 1985. "Agglomeration economies in urban manufacturing industries: A case of Japanese cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 108-124, January.
    14. Henderson, J. Vernon, 1986. "Efficiency of resource usage and city size," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 47-70, January.
    15. Stan Czamanski, 1971. "Some Empirical Evidence Of The Strengths Of Linkages Between Groups Of Related Industries In Urban‐Regional Complexes," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 137-150, April.
    16. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 1986. "Urban agglomeration, capital augmenting technology, and labor market equilibrium," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 211-228, September.
    17. Venables, Anthony J, 1996. "Localization of Industry and Trade Performance," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 52-60, Autumn.
    18. Eric C. Howe, 1991. "Simple Industrial Complexes," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 71-80, January.
    19. Segal, David, 1976. "Are There Returns to Scale in City Size?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 58(3), pages 339-350, August.
    20. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Feddersen, 2012. "Why we can't confirm the pollution haven hypothesis: A model of carbon leakage with agglomeration," Economics Series Working Papers 613, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. repec:pri:cepsud:230deloecker is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Allan Collard-Wexler & Jan De Loecker, 2015. "Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the US Steel Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 131-171, January.
    4. Lazonick, William, 2012. "Financialization of the U.S. corporation: what has been lost, and how it can be regained," MPRA Paper 42307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 29 Oct 2012.
    5. William Lazonick, 2010. "The Chandlerian corporation and the theory of innovative enterprise," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(2), pages 317-349, April.
    6. Peter B. Doeringer & Pacey Foster & Stephan Manning & David Terkla, 2013. "Project-based industries and craft-like production: structure, location and performance," Chapters, in: Frank Giarratani & Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Philip McCann (ed.), Handbook of Industry Studies and Economic Geography, chapter 4, pages 99-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Allan Collard-Wexler & Jan De Loecker, 2015. "Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the US Steel Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 131-171, January.
    8. Scott Duke Kominers, 2008. "Response to May 2007 Article by Frank Giarratani, Gene Gruver, and Randall Jackson on Industry Agglomeration," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 22(3), pages 264-266, August.
    9. Carey Durkin Treado & Frank Giarratani, 2008. "Intermediate Steel-Industry Suppliers in the Pittsburgh Region: A Cluster-Based Analysis of Regional Economic Resilience," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 22(1), pages 63-75, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:rri:wpaper:200605 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Gashawbeza Bekele & Randall Jackson, 2006. "Theoretical Perspectives on Industry Clusters," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-05, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    3. Junius, Karsten, 1997. "Economies of scale: A survey of the empirical literature," Kiel Working Papers 813, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Hsiao-Lan Liu & Hsin-Yi Lin & Shin-Kun Peng, 2010. "The spillover effects of R&D on manufacturing industry in Taiwan’s metropolitan areas," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(3), pages 519-546, December.
    5. Gordon H. Hanson, 2000. "Scale Economies and the Geographic Concentration of Industry," NBER Working Papers 8013, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Antonio Ciccone, 1997. "Technology diffusion and the spatial distribution of wages in the US," Economics Working Papers 500, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Dec 1999.
    7. Oliver Farhauer & Alexandra Kröll, 2012. "Diversified specialisation—going one step beyond regional economics’ specialisation-diversification concept," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 32(1), pages 63-84, March.
    8. Baldwin, John R. Beckstead, Desmond Brown, W. Mark Rigby, David, 2007. "Urban Economies and Productivity," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2007045e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    9. Marcus Berliant & Chia-Ming Yu, 2015. "Locational Signaling And Agglomeration," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 757-773, November.
    10. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2003. "Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 377-393, May.
    11. Beaudry, Catherine & Schiffauerova, Andrea, 2009. "Who's right, Marshall or Jacobs? The localization versus urbanization debate," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 318-337, March.
    12. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    13. Yamamura, Eiji & Shin, Inyong, 2007. "Dynamics of agglomeration economies and regional industrial structure: The case of the assembly industry of the Greater Tokyo Region, 1960-2000," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 483-499, December.
    14. Andrew Perumal, 2017. "42 Years of Urban Growth and Industry Composition," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 45(2), pages 133-147, June.
    15. Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll & Sofia G. Ayala, 2011. "Urban Wages: Does City Size Matter?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(2), pages 253-271, February.
    16. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2001. "The Determinants of Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 191-229, September.
    17. Todd M. Gabe, 2004. "Establishment Growth in Small Cities and Towns," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 27(2), pages 164-186, April.
    18. Ryohei Nakamura, 2005. "Agglomeration Economies and Linkage Externalities in Urban Manufacturing Industries - A Case of Japanese Cities," ERSA conference papers ersa05p768, European Regional Science Association.
    19. Bun Song Lee & Soomyung Jang & Sung Hyo Hong, 2010. "Marshall’s Scale Economies and Jacobs’ Externality in Korea: the Role of Age, Size and the Legal Form of Organisation of Establishments," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(14), pages 3131-3156, December.
    20. Lichao Wu & Yanpeng Jiang & Lili Wang & Xinhao Qiao, 2022. "The two faces of urbanisation and productivity: Enhance or inhibit? New evidence from Chinese firm‐level data," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 36(1), pages 126-142, May.
    21. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Donato Iacobucci, 2016. "Do Geographic Concentration and Vertically Related Variety Foster Firm Productivity? Micro-Evidence from Italy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 197-217, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:21:y:2007:i:2:p:148-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.