Industrial Decline, Regional Policy and the Urban—Rural Manufacturing Shift in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The paper reports results of Theil entropy index, shift-share, and regression analyses of county variations in the change of manufacturing employment in the United Kingdom between 1971 and 1976. The research identified a very marked and consistent urban–rural shift in the relative distribution of manufacturing employment during this period, associated primarily with nonstructural influences. Regression tests of specific hypotheses derived from previous work, concerning the possible impact of government regional policy incentives, residential space preferences, and female labour availability (the ‘restructuring hypothesis’), failed to add significantly to the statistical explanation achieved. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of possible implications for UK regional policy in the 1980s.