ABSTRACT
Other chapters in this volume apply particular analytical tools and methods to specific communities or industries with the goal of identifying opportunities for targeted regional economic development. This chapter takes a different approach by examining how alternative analytical tools rank specific food sector clusters in counties of Pennsylvania or the Northeast US for potential support by public policy-makers. In particular, we apply several analytical tools to empirically identify industry clusters within the food and agriculture industry: local employment analysis, location quotients, shift-share analysis, analysis of wages, bubble charts, local Moran statistics, locational correlations, and input-output analysis. These analytical tools are not meant to be exhaustive or necessarily conclusive. However, they do generate substantial information that can help us better understand the competitive advantage of particular food and agriculture industries. In turn, this can be useful for identifying targeted investment and workforce and economic development strategies.
