Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The analysis would be incomplete without consideration of the metropolitan
areas which are the real drivers of territorial growth. According to definitions in
1999, the 274 metropolitan areas (without Honolulu and Anchorage) occupy
approximately 25% of the surface area of the 48 conterminous states. These
metropolitan regions captured 83% of the total growth of non-agricultural
employment and increased from 81% of total employment in 1970 to 82% in 2000.
This performance can be viewed as relative, however, when one considers that these
same territories accounted for 79% of the population in 1970 and 81% in 2000.
So there are strong growth disparities between the South and West on the one
hand, and the North and East on the other. Overall employment growth does not
shed light on the chicken and egg argument when determining whether it is the
higher demographic growth of Southern and Western metropolitan areas that drives
job creation or whether it is economic growth that attracts population and drives
demographic growth. In fact, the economic and demographic growth processes are
cumulative and reciprocal.
The United States is a consumer society in which 80% of employment is in the
services sector, meaning that most jobs produce goods for local consumption,
unless, that is, they are involved in activities related to social regulation (such as
civil servants) or to social reproduction (for example, education). This implies that
employment and population increase proportionally to one another. The wealthier a
society, the greater the production of public goods (public administration, education,
health, construction, culture). These non-quantifiable outputs are essentially
relational and therefore virtually irreducible to commoditized treatments. It is
therefore natural that the share of capital directly allocated to production processes
should decline as capital is substituted for labor in the production process.
Manufacturing is generally regarded as a core activity for a city. In contrast to many
other activities, manufacturers do not rely on local consumption as their primary
revenue source. Indeed, industrial activity brings along other activities. A number of
industrial jobs simply meet local demand and a large number of service jobs exist to
serve temporary residents, tourists, or students. Another part of service work is
concerned directly with manufacturing. Investment in manufacturing services
increases the value of industrial output, and insofar as the increase of outputs affects
wages, multiplier effects increase with time. Industrial influence is also multiplied
by the outsourcing of services to industrial companies. There is not, therefore, an
exact relationship between industrial employment and the economic base of a city,
but it is the best proxy indicator.
