An Examination of the Relationship between Corporate Spatial Organization, Restructuring, and External Contracting of Producer Services within a Metropolitan Region

Urban analysts contend that a key process underlying the extensive growth of producer services industries in U.S. metropolitan areas is the external contracting of producer services functions by corporations. This practice has been linked to changes in the geographic scope of corporate activity and to corporate restructuring. Using data collected from a sample of headquarters of service sector firms located in the northeast region of Ohio, the relationship between indicators of the geographic scope of corporate activity, corporate restructuring, and external contracting of producer services is examined. Reliance on international markets by corporate headquarters was found to be most extensively related to their use of external contracting for producer services.