Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that many aspects of poverty and inequality, especially with regard to poverty in rural areas. It examines high-tech industries in terms of three major divisions of labor: spatial, technical, and social. The book also shows that high-tech centers are largely absent from the Northcentral, and they generally avoid industrial cities in the other regions. It describes a multi-level model of female labor force participation incorporating three categories of variables: human capital, household, and Labor Market Areas. The book also examines changes in the former plantation areas of the South, paying special attention to the migratory pattern of blacks in these areas. It addresses the effects of residential concentration on socioeconomic outcomes in the South and the US as a whole. The book argues that capital-labor relations have an important spatial component.