Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers

The Structure of World Manufacturing RAY M. NORTHAM" Manufacturing activities may be arranged in groups which together constitute the structure of manufacturing of the world or any part thereof. Differences in the structure of manufacturing among areal units of the earth constitute areal contracts and result from cultural and physical characteristics ofrespective areal units. This paper is concerned with structural differences in manufactuirng in areal political units, most of which are nations. The role and structure of manufacturing within the economy of any region or nation can be established by use of several measurement criteria. Three criteria often utilized are: (1) number of employees , (2) number of establishments, and (3) value added by manufacture. The last two have little meaning in the measurement of the role of manufacturing in the total economy, since other contributing sectors cannot be measured in the same manner. In an examination of the economic structure of nations, the contribution of manufacturing to the gross domestic product is less workable for a region within a nation than for a nation as a whole. For example, one might obtain data on the proportion of the GDP of Bolivia contributed by agriculture, manufacture, and services but would have great difficulty in estimating the proportion contributed by each of these activities for the Yungas, Eastern Cordillera, and Altiplano regions within Bolivia. In the following pages the context for examining the role and structure of manufacturing is economic activity. Employment is the * Dr. Northam is Professor of Geography at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331. The basic idea of this paper was first presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association in Chico, California, in June 1967. 107 108ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS basis of measurement, for it provides a direct relationship between population and the effort to generate material wealth. Hence the focus of this paper is upon the number of persons expending effort in a given activity to produce wealth. Sources and Application of Data When one attempts to collect and analyze data for some political units, numerous problems arise. One is automatically drawn toward published information on the activities of the labor force of respective nations. The difficulty of finding adequate published data of this type for the nations of Africa, South America, and Southern Asia is an oft stated apology in studies of this type. The informed reader knows full well that some of the difficult problems of obtaining adequate data sources are: (1) the data are completely lacking, (2) they are not in a useable form, most likely because of different approaches to classification and grouping, or (3) some data on national economies are derived not from a complete or nearly complete census but from a sample of regions, establishments, or segments of the employed population, e.g., those covered by a national insurance program or those employees in the public sector of the economy. Even though complete censuses in many of the world's nations will not soon be forthcoming, if some discretion accompanies use of reported data, however derived, some insight can be gained as to the role and structure of manufacturing in nations. Refinement of any conclusions must await refinements in basic data collection. Furthermore , reservations concerning data for one nation are not equal to those for another. By dealing with a reasonably large number of nations, any serious single error in data reporting is lessened in its effect. Data for this paper were derived mainly from two major sources: ( 1) The Year Book of Labour Statistics: 1964 by the International Labour Office and (2) The Growth of World Industry: 1938-1961 by the United Nations. These have been checked and supplemented by a number of additional sources. Both sources, especially the latter, present the results of national censuses of industry, complete or sampled, using the International Standard Industrial Classification of YEARBOOK · VOLUME 32 · 1970109 AU Economic Activities developed by the United Nations. Data for the Soviet Union and some East European nations are presented but are not within the structure of this classification. In addition, both sources present index numbers on industrial employment, using some year in the 1950's, usually 1958, as a base year. By applying these index numbers...