Industrial resilience, regional diversification and related variety during times of crisis in the US urban–rural context

This paper evaluates the role of related variety in the industrial resilience of US counties against the 2008 economic shock. We use employment data on six-digit industries and measure industrial resilience by the extent to which a county maintained or improved entry rates of new industrial specializations in the post-crisis period of 2009–14 as compared with 2002–07. We find that metropolitan counties are more resilient than other types of areas. Related variety exhibits a strong positive effect on industrial resilience. This effect appears to be driven by intermediate and rural counties, which particularly benefit from related variety.