ABSTRACT
Theories about the location of firms and theories about the regional distribution of industries are in fact closely related to one another. Although the location of a firm is of course, a precisely defined concept, an exact point in space, for many reasons the region within which a location takes place is a much more convenient geographical concept to handle, particularly since from many a point of view knowledge of the exact location is irrelevant for a proper regional analysis. An important restriction should, of course, be made here. Regional analysis may serve different purposes. An analysis of the location of shops requires much smaller regions than one of the location of international airports. The relevant size of a region depends on the activity that is being considered. This should always be kept in mind whenever a study of a particular activity is undertaken. In the next chapter we shall have the opportunity to explain the consequences in some more detail.
