THE EFFECTS OF LOCAL CONDITIONS ON ECONOMIC-GROWTH, 1977-1990 - THE CHANGING LOCATION OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES

To promote economic growth and improve their tax base, local governmen ts compete to attract ''high-tech'' industries. The authors analyze th e outcome of this competition, documenting the geographical dispersion of high-tech activities over the last 15 years and assessing the degr ee to which their location is attributable to the effects of local fac tors, including public policies. They show that high-tech jobs and est ablishments have changed location across localities and that many loca l conditions influence the location of high-tech activities. However, these conditions reflect the wealth of the community and not local gov ernmental spending and tax policies, which have only marginal effects on the location of high-tech activities.