Branch Plants and the Evolving Spatial Division of Labour: A Study of Material Linkage Change in the Northern Region of England

Abstract

PHELPS N. A. (1993) Branch plants and the evolving spatial division of labour: a study of material linkage change in the Northern region of England, Reg. Studies 27, 87–101. Recent literature has suggested that manufacturing industry including that in peripheral regions–is becoming more locally embedded as a result of processes of externalization and localized linkage formation. This paper explores the hypothesis that branch plants have, in terms of spatial patterns of material linkages, become more locally embedded as a result of recent industrial restructuring. Evidence from a survey of manufacturing establishments in the Northern region of England is used to explore hypotheses regarding t..