The Information Economy and American Cities

by Matthew P. Drennan

Overview

How can metropolitan regions remain prosperous and competitive in a rapidly changing economy? Challenging some long-standing assumptions, Matthew Drennan argues that those regions that have invested heavily in the information economy have done much better than those that continue to rely on manufacturing and industry as their base. Moreover, he contends, the benefits of that growth reach the urban working poor, earlier reports to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Information Economy and American Cities provides a wealth of rigorously analyzed econometric data which will be of great value to economists, planners, and policymakers concerned with the future of America's metropolitan areas. Additional supporting data will be made available online. Not just another glib cheer for the information economy, this book provides the kind of hard evidence needed to advocate effectively for change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801869341
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/08/2002
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.72(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Matthew P. Drennan is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA. He is on leave from the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. His previous books include Methods of Interregional and Regional Analysis and Modeling Metropolitan Economies for Forecasting and Policy Analysis.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1. Describing the Elephant: The Information Sector
Chapter 2. Emergence of the Information Sector
Chapter 3. The Information Sector in Metropolitan Economies
Chapter 4. Metropolitan Income and Growth: The Roles of Specialization, Size, and Human Capital
Chapter 5. Income Convergence and Poverty in Metropolitan Areas
Chapter 6. Conclusion and Policy RecommendationsAppendix
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Dick Netzer

There is enormous interest in the dramatic changes that have occurred in the American economy over the last thirty years. A great deal has been written on the subject, much of it needlessly alarmist. This is the first book that systematically and comprehensively asks all the important questions. And it answers those questions lucidly and persuasively. I have known Drennan's work for a very long time. He has always been effective in communicating with the reader, but this is his best work to date.

— Dick Netzer, New York University

From the Publisher

There is enormous interest in the dramatic changes that have occurred in the American economy over the last thirty years. A great deal has been written on the subject, much of it needlessly alarmist. This is the first book that systematically and comprehensively asks all the important questions. And it answers those questions lucidly and persuasively. I have known Drennan's work for a very long time. He has always been effective in communicating with the reader, but this is his best work to date.
—Dick Netzer, New York University

Editorial Reviews

Sprinkled with challenges to conventional wisdom, this book provides solid empirical documentation of sectoral change in U.S. metropolitan areas and makes an important contribution to the literature on the information economy.
—Choice

An excellent analysis of the rise and role of the information sector—composed of producer services and advanced consumer services—in regional economic development . . . I enjoyed this book a great deal and highly recommend it to both researchers and practitioners working in the area of urban and regional policy.
—John I. Carruthers, Regional Science and Urban Economics

An accessible examination of the rise and importance of the information sector in the United States . . . A welcome contribution to an important area of study, offering an interdisciplinary and evidence-based account of fundamental changes in the American economy.
—Tim May and Beth Perry, Journal of Regional Science

From the Publisher

An excellent analysis of the rise and role of the information sector—composed of producer services and advanced consumer services—in regional economic development . . . I enjoyed this book a great deal and highly recommend it to both researchers and practitioners working in the area of urban and regional policy.

Regional Science and Urban Economics - John I. Carruthers

An accessible examination of the rise and importance of the information sector in the United States . . . A welcome contribution to an important area of study, offering an interdisciplinary and evidence-based account of fundamental changes in the American economy.

Journal of Regional Science - Tim May and Beth Perry

Sprinkled with challenges to conventional wisdom, this book provides solid empirical documentation of sectoral change in U.S. metropolitan areas and makes an important contribution to the literature on the information economy.

Choice

An accessible examination of the rise and importance of the information sector in the United States... A welcome contribution to an important area of study, offering an interdisciplinary and evidence-based account of fundamental changes in the American economy.

— Tim May and Beth Perry

Journal of Regional Science

An excellent analysis of the rise and role of the information sector—composed of producer services and advanced consumer services—in regional economic development... I enjoyed this book a great deal and highly recommend it to both researchers and practitioners working in the area of urban and regional policy.

— John I. Carruthers

Regional Science and Urban Economics

There is enormous interest in the dramatic changes that have occurred in the American economy over the last thirty years. A great deal has been written on the subject,much of it needlessly alarmist. This is the first book that systematically and comprehensively asks all the important questions. And it answers those questions lucidly and persuasively. I have known Drennan's work for a very long time. He has always been effective in communicating with the reader,but this is his best work to date.

Dick Netzer