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Journal of Economic Geography Advance Access originally published online on October 17, 2005
Journal of Economic Geography 2006 6(1):45-70; doi:10.1093/jeg/lbi015
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© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Technological variety, technological change and a geography of production techniques

David L. Rigby* and Jürgen Essletzbichler**

* Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. email: <rigby{at}geog.ucla.edu>
** School of Geography, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. email: <j.essletzbichler{at}soton.ac.uk>

How much heterogeneity in techniques of production exists within the economy, and how does that heterogeneity move over time? In this paper we show that the range of production techniques employed by establishments within individual manufacturing industries is large. We go on to show that technological heterogeneity persists over time: there is no evidence of convergence to best-practice or some other point in technology space. Next, we explore the geography of variety and reveal that there are significant spatial differences in the production techniques employed by manufacturing plants in the same industry. Finally, we examine how these geographical differences move over time, measuring the processes that drive the creation and destruction of the range of production techniques across industries and regions in the US economy.

Keywords: Evolutionary economics, technological change, heterogeneity, geography,
JEL classifications: B52, L60, O18, R30
Date submitted: 5 August 2004     Date accepted: 10 August 2005


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