Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Year
Populaon
Total Employment
Manufacturing Employment
Earning (non-farming)
Manufacturing Earning
Fig. 18.5
Megalopolis: national shares of population, employment, and earnings (
Source
: Bureau
of Economic Analysis)
two decades). In the last two decades, the earnings per manufacturing worker in the
Megalopolis are higher, suggesting a higher proportion of high value-adding (more
knowledge-intensive) sectors remaining in the region—as compared to the sector
components being outsourced to the rest of the world (see Sect.
18.5
).
The Megalopolis shares of national total (non-farm) earnings have dropped in
the 1970-1990 period, but have since held steady, reflecting the faster growth in the
knowledge-intensive service sectors. However, the Megalopolis shares of total
non-farm earnings remains high—6 % higher than population shares in 2010-
suggesting that earnings per employee are higher in the Megalopolis than in the
nation.
18.4
The Recent Transition to Knowledge Economies
in the Megalopolis
As noted above, many metropolitan areas in the Megalopolis have experienced in
the recent past economic decline, as their manufacturing sectors lost their compe-
titive edge. They had to confront the dislocations of post-industrial society and the
dead ends of economic decline. Yet some of these urban regions in the Megalopolis
have in the most recent quarter century reinvented themselves as hubs of creativity
and development, creating jobs utilizing knowledge in technical, economic, social
