Measuring the Urban Economic Base in a Developing Country

The Ullman-Dacey minimum requirements method for measuring the economic base of a city is simple to apply and has given reasonably accurate results when compared with other more costly techniques [Ullman and Dacey 1960]. Only modest amounts of employment data, of a type becoming increasingly available in developing countries, are needed to use this method. Estimates of the economic base of many small and medium-sized cities in a region can usually be made rapidly. The method may therefore be especially useful during the preliminary stages of planning for growth centers in a developing country. This paper discusses: (1) the advantages of the minimum requirements technique as compared with other short-cut methods, and (2) the application of the technique to Nicaragua as an example of its use in a developing country.