Technological change, mobile plants and regional development

Thwaites A. T. (1978) Technological change, mobile plants and regional development, Reg. Studies 12, 445–461. This paper presents an examination of the role of the mobile plant in the self-sustained economic growth of the Development Areas in Britain. It is suggested that long term economic development generated from within the Regions is highly dependent upon the ability of local establishments to produce and to absorb new technology. A survey of the literature reveals that mobile plants often do not satisfy those conditions which appear most conducive to rapid technological advance and adoption within manufacturing firms. Therefore, whilst the explicit aims of Regional Policy to reduce unemployment and distress in the peripheral areas of Britain have been largely met through plant mobility, the implicit long term aims of industrial regeneration through technological spin-off and linkages seem less likely to occur.