We investigate the geographic concentration and agglomeration of production activity in the UK at the four-digit industry level using a variety of measures. We relate these to comparable patterns in the US and France and find several similarities. We find that conditioning on industrial concentration, the most geographically concentrated industries appear to be relatively low-tech. We find evidence that plant survival rates are higher and both entry and exit rates lower in more agglomerated industries, but that in some of the most agglomerated industries entry acts to re-enforce agglomeration.

Authors

Michael Devereux
Michael Devereux

Research Associate University of Oxford and Oxford Centre for Business Taxation

Michael joined the IFS in 1982 and he has been a Research Fellow since 1990 and a Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford.

Rachel Cassidy
Rachel Griffith

CPP Co-Director, IFS Research Director

Rachel is Research Director and Professor at the University of Manchester. She was made a Dame for services to economic policy and education in 2021.

Person graphic

Helen Simpson

Report details

Publisher
Centre for Economic Policy Research

Suggested citation

M, Devereux and R, Griffith and H, Simpson. (2002). The geographical distribution of production activity in the UK. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/geographical-distribution-production-activity-uk (accessed: 19 May 2024).

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