Competitive Manufacturing: New Strategies for Regional Development

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Can public policy improve the competitiveness of the crucial manufacturing sector? This book challenges the conventional wisdom in economic development policy. Past state and local industrial policy focused on locational decisions, not on issues of competitiveness. Now, Rosenfeld argues, the challenge for states and localities is to help their industries become more competitive. Building the competitive advantage of industry is more important than promoting the competitive advantages of location. Incentives to modernize are more important than subsidies to locate. Rosenfeld uses the rural South to examine the strengths and weaknesses of manufacturing as the basis for economic growth. Using historical analysis, surveys, and case studies, he analyzes the technological capabilities of rural manufacturing, the factors that influence the decision to modernize, and the effects of technology on education and work. "A well researched study, with convincing and clear policy directions." Journal of Planning Education and Research "A thorough guide to the modernization policies that . . . shape national, regional, and state approaches to economic development." Journal of Regional Science "Demonstrates how public policies can help companies, and therefore the country, become high-income, world-class producers." -- RAY MARSHALL, former U.S. Secretary of Labor