Agglomeration and Market Entry in the U.S. Steel Industry: Empirical Evidence Based on the Advent of Slab Casting by U.S. Steel Minimills

Ten new steel plants were constructed in the United States from 1989-2001, each taking advantage of new technologies that gave scrap-based minimills access to the market for flat products based on the casting of steel slabs. Earlier, this market was the exclusive domain of ore-based integrated mills. This research brings new evidence to bear on the nature and importance of agglomeration economies, by analyzing industry clusters related to the advent of new slab casting technologies. The analysis is based on direct observation and plant visits to all of the new mills created by the new technologies. We find that industry clusters can play an important role in the process of market entry, and that specific factors related to product and firm characteristics help to determine the nature of agglomeration economies and their effects on firms and regions

Letter: Observation-Based Analysis and Industry Studies

Observation-based analysis at the firm and plant level is alive, well, and growing, according to Frank Giarratani. More than eight hundred scholars, including many economists, embrace observation-based analysis, and identify with industry studies as a research field based on this principle.

An Introduction to Regional Economics

Hoover, Edgar M., Frank Giarratani. An Introduction to Regional Economics. Web Book of Regional Science. Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University. Edited by Scott Loveridge, 1999: Randall Jackson, 2020.https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/rri-web-book/1003/thumbnail.jp

Competitive Adjustment in the United States Steel Industry: Some Spatial Aspects of Capacity Change by Integrated Producers

This research draws on an extensive database at the plant level to analyze capacity changes in the in the integrated sector of the U.S. steel industry over the period 1974-1991. Reduced form models are developed using panel data from this period with the objective of isolating the market forces that have driven the industry's restructuring. Adjustment in the industry was enormous over the period analyzed, in terms of capacity reduction, plant closure, and permanent job losses, and this adjustment was accompanied by a major shifts in the spatial distribution of raw steel making capacity. Evidence of the importance of competition from imports and from domestic minimills is presented. Closures and capacity reductions brought about a spatial realignment that reflects the ways in which the cost of producing steel in various regions have changed over time, and they have promoted cost savings in steel production. Simply put, the outcome of this redistribution among regions has promoted efficiency in resource allocation for the U.S. economy as a whole, and U.S. steel makers have become stronger, more profitable competitors in world markets. NOTE: This working paper was prepared as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Steel Research Project.

An Introduction to Regional Economics

This book is designed primarily to serve as a college text for the student's first course in regional economics, at either the upperclass or the graduate level and running for either one or two terms. It presupposes no previous exposure to regional economics as such, nor anything beyond a minimal background in basic economics, nor any advanced mathematical expertise. Most of the book, and all of its essential content, should be comprehensible to the "intelligent layman." The wide range of topics covered is intended to serve the needs of the student who will not be going on to more advanced and specialized courses in the regional field; those who do use it as a stepping stone to such later work will find here some useful previews of questions (especially in regional growth analysis and in urban economics) to which they will be addressing themselves more intensively later

Modeling Geographic Ferrous Scrap Markets: Regional Prices and Interregional Transactions in the United States

The "U.S. Regional Ferrous Scrap Model" analyzes spatial variations in prices for two grades of ferrous scrap using a logistic model of choice under differentiated products. The model uses a computer-generated equilibrium framework to solve for prices that support the observed spatial distribution of supply and demand quantities. This paper presents the model's formal structure and its solution algorithm. The model specification is highly disaggregated with 1,212 supply and 240 demand regions. Characteristics of the equilibrium solution are described for prices and interregional flows. Sensitivity of equilibrium values to changes in model parameters is reported. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Inc. 2005