Steel industry restructuring and location

In this paper, we link technology-based competition, demand patterns, and managerial agency to describe and explain the process of restructuring in the American steel industry in terms of its economic geography and in the context of sweeping changes in the industry’s global structure. Between World War II and the end of the1960’s, the American steel industry was dominated by large integrated steel producers. During this period, competition was primarily among integrated firms and the location decisions taken during the period concerned individual production units within those firms. Between the 1970’s and the 1990’s, a new kind of competition re-shaped the economic geography of the American steel industry: employing scrap-based production methods, minimills emerged to challenge the integrated producers. Shifts in demand away from the previous geographical core combined with aggressive investments by minimill managers in production capacity and in capability upgrading to drive home the minimill advantage. Finally, with the turn of the century, world steel markets began to reshape based on globalization. Energized by liberalization and privatization in many parts of the world, and supported by information technology and managerial innovations that increased spans of control, steel firm managers employed aggressive mergers & acquisitions to create the first large-scale steel multinational corporations. During this period, consolidation redrew the boundaries of firm competition, and foreign steel firms emerged as owners of a major share of American steelmaking capacity. Moreover, increases in the world demand for steel and world steelmaking capacity had profound effect in reshaping the economic geography of the competitive landscape. By examining these critical periods of restructuring in the steel industry, the role of economic geography as a competitive factor is exposed, and context is provided for understanding the regional and spatial implications of competitive adjustment

The Future Steelmaking Industry and Its Technologies

The objective of this report is to develop a vision of the future steelmaking industry including its general characteristics and technologies. In addition, the technical obstacles and research and development opportunities for commercialization of these technologies are identified. The report is being prepared by the Sloan Steel Industry Competitiveness Study with extensive input from the industry. Industry input has been through AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute), SMA (Steel Manufacturers Association) and contacts with individual company executives and technical leaders. The report identifies the major industry drivers which will influence technological developments in the industry for the next 5--25 years. Initially, the role of past drivers in shaping the current industry was examined to help understand the future developments. Whereas this report concentrates on future technologies other major factors such as national and international competition, human resource management and capital concerns are examined to determine their influence on the future industry. The future industry vision does not specify specific technologies but rather their general characteristics. Finally, the technical obstacles and the corresponding research and development required for commercialization are detailed

Application of an interindustry supply model to energy issues

An interindustry model relating gross output to the availability of primary inputs is used to examine supply linkages associated with national energy production. The results of calculations for US data highlight the importance of extractive energy sectors in intermediate production, and identify supplying sectors that have the potential of restricting energy output. The use of this model as a means to simulate the impact of alternative energy-allocation programmes on gross output is discussed and the results of one simulation are presented.

An evaluation of the REMI model for the South Coast Air Quality Management District

This paper reports an evaluation of the econometric model developed by Regional Econometric Models Inc. for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The analysis is focused on the in-sample performance, forecasting ability, and characteristics in impact analysis of the model. The trade-offs implicit in the performance of this model relate directly to questions of explanatory power. In particular, the model is characterized by well-specified structural equations that enhance its ability to formulate policy-relevant simulations. This may come at the cost of predictive ability in a statistical sense. Choices related to this trade-off are at the heart of applied regional analysis.