Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The urban distribution of headquarters and branch plants in manufacturing: Mechanisms of metropolitan dominance

  • Articles
  • Published:
Demography

Abstract

The proposition that ties between home offices and branch plants constitute a form of metropolitan dominance is evaluated by examining the dependence of these two forms of manufacturing organization on selected characteristics of the 110 largest SMSAs. The predictor variables in the analysis are measures of industry composition, population size, and regional location, factors which past research has shown to be indicators of rank in an urban hierarchy of dominance. The data generally support the hypothesis in revealing that headquarters locate in large, diversified urban areas, whereas branch plant employment is highest in small, economically specialized places. Both headquarters and branch plant activity proved to be associated with the percent of the SMSA labor force employed in manufacturing, however. The suggestion drawn from earlier studies, that specialization in metropolitan financial-commercial functions should be related to the headquarters’ presence, receives only mixed and ambiguous support in this investigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrahamson, M.. and M. A. DuBick: 1977. Patterns of Urban Dominance: The U.S. in 1890. American Sociological Review 42:756–768.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, Brian J. L.. and E. Neils. 1969. Location, Size. and Shape of Cities as Influenced by Environmental Factors. Pp. 257–302 in Harvey S. Perloff (ed.), The Quality of the Urban Environment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, and A. Pred (eds.). 1961. Central Place Studies: A Bibliography of Theory and Applications. Philadelphia: Regional Science Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogue. Donald J. 1949. The Structure of the Metropolitan Community. Ann Arbor: Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, R. L. 1963. The Metropolitan Influence of the 168 Standard Metropolitan Area Central Cities. Social Forces 42:166–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, Beverly, and S. Lieberson. 1970. Metropolis and Region in Transition. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, Otis D., W. R. Scott, S. Lieberson, B. Duncan, and H. H. Winsborough. 1960. Metropolis and Region. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Editors of Fortune. 1963. Plant and Product Directory, 1963–64. Vol. I. New York: Time.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, J. H., and J. E. Kronenfeld. 1973. Problems of Definitional Dependency: The Case of Administrative Intensity. Social Forces 52:108–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuguitt, G. V., and S. Lieberson. 1974. Correlations or Ratios or Difference Scores Having Common Terms. Pp. 128–144 in Herbert L. Costner (ed.), Sociological Methodology, 1973-74. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J. P., and D. L. Poston, Jr. 1975. The Division of Labor: Conceptualization and Related Measures. Social Forces 53:468–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gras, N. S. B. 1922. The Development of Metropolitan Economy in Europe and America. American Historical Review 27:695–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, Amos H. 1971. Urban Society: An Ecological Approach. New York: Ronald Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, Edgar M., and R. Vernon. 1959. Anatomy or a Metropolis. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberson, S. 1969. Measuring Population Diversity. American Sociological Review 34:850–862.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. and I. L. Allen, Jr. 1963. Location of National Headquarters or Voluntary Associations. Administrative Science Quarterly 8:317–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, Roderick D. 1933. The Metropolitan Community. New York: McGraw-Hili Book Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pappenfort, D. M. 1959. The Ecological Field and the Metropolitan Community: Manufacturing and Management. American Journal or Sociology 64:380–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnore, L. F. 1957. Satellites and Suburbs. Social Forces 36:121–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semple, R. K. 1973. Recent Trends in the Spatial Concentration of Corporate Headquarters. Economic Geography 49:309–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, Graham R. 1915. Satellite Cities: A Study or Industrial Suburbs. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Bureau or the Census. 1967. County Business Patterns, 1967. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vance, R. B., and S. S. Sutker. 1954. Metropolitan Dominance and Integration. Pp. 113–134 in Rupert B. Vance and N. J. Demerath (eds.), The Urban South. Chapel Hill: University or North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon, Raymond. 1960. Metropolis, 1985. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, University Park, 90007, Los Angeles, California

    James R. Lincoln

Authors
  1. James R. Lincoln
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lincoln, J.R. The urban distribution of headquarters and branch plants in manufacturing: Mechanisms of metropolitan dominance. Demography 15, 213–222 (1978). https://doi.org/10.2307/2060524

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2060524

Keywords

Search

Navigation