ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on the decision to make or buy services before examining the range of externalised services. Some basic hypotheses are proposed to explain the spatial behaviour of industrial enterprises. The chapter examines, by steps, the influence of structural variables on the decision to make or buy services. Certainly the regional scientist is ultimately interested in the spatial linkages between industry and service business, but is constrained to examining a residuum by excluding the decision to make or buy from the analysis. According to the fundamental conception of economic geography, that environment consists of spatial and temporal dimensions, both shaping manufacturers' behaviour. The framework of research was carried out in the state of Lower Saxony which is relatively little industrialised compared with other federal states. The implications of the present study for regional policy are more difficult to judge than might be expected from former studies.
