ABSTRACT
We have approached the study of industrial location from several directions, or through several lenses: microeconomic, macroeconomic, and socialinstitutional. We have seen the location of a discrete facility as a problem of economic optimization. We have put the decision in the context of the solution to a set of other problems: capacity shortfalls, technological obsolescence, recognition of new market opportunities. In this context, location of a facility is not an end in itself, but merely one possible way of resolving a set of roadblocks on the way to organizational survival or growth. We have noted all the variables that affect the outcome of a production investment, and the consequent necessity to decompose the location decision into a set of smaller logistical decisions and competitive considerations. We have enumerated ways in which governments attempt to steer these investment decisions in ways that the governments deem beneficial. Finally, we have looked at industrial location as a system of related activities (economic, organizational, technological, political, and social) that have changed as technologies, social institutions, and public policies have changed. These institutions and policies are also affected by industrial change and industrial location change. These interactions matter to each of us as we attempt to raise families, earn our living, and pay our taxes. In a set of recapitulations below, we attempt to show the complementarities of these approaches to a complex subject.
