Industrial Change in Developed Regions

In developed regions, industry is shifting away from the traditional industrial areas of northwestern Europe and the northeastern United States.

Intraregional Shifts in North America

In the United States, industry has shifted from the Northeast toward the South and West (Figure 11-89). Government subsidies have influenced location decisions (see Debate It! feature).

Changing Distribution of U.S. Industry

(a) In 1950, manufacturing was highly clustered in the Southern Great Lakes. (b) In the twenty-first century, industry has declined in the Northeast and increased in the South and West.

The principal lure for many manufacturers has been right-to-work laws. A right-to-work law requires a factory to maintain an “open shop” and prohibits a “closed shop.” In a closed shop, a company and a union agree that everyone must join the union to work in the factory. In an open shop, a union and a company may not negotiate a contract that requires workers to join a union as a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws make it much more difficult for unions to organize factory workers, collect dues, and bargain with employers from a position of strength.

Pause & Reflect 11.4.4

Which site factor do right- to-work laws influence and how have they affected U.S. industrial location? Explain your answer.

Intraregional Shifts in Europe

Manufacturing has diffused from traditional industrial centers in northwestern Europe toward Southern and Eastern Europe. Government policies have encouraged relocation toward economically distressed peripheral areas.

The Western European country with the most rapid manufacturing growth during the late twentieth century was Spain, especially after its admission to the European Union in 1986. Since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, investment in industry has increased rapidly in Central Europe, especially Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Central Europe offers manufacturers two important site and situation factors: low-wage but relatively skilled labor and proximity to Western Europe markets.

Changing Distribution of European Auto Assembly Plants

Most of the more recently built plants are in Spain and in Central Europe.