ABSTRACT
Summary: This paper is concerned with the location of industry in small countries which are peripheral areas in their regions. It argues that their problems can best be understood in a regional context (and that this is so whether or not there is a formal system of regional cooperation – such as a customs union or a free trade area – in the region) but that social and political structures are also of central importance. The discussion is based on a study of the small countries of the Southern African periphery – an area of extreme and possibly atypical inequalities, but one which throws light on small country problems elsewhere.
