Lessons from Cluster Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing and Service Industries

In the United States, policy makers in public and private sectors have focused on economic clusters for industrial development in agglomeration economies. In this study, we employ the Getis-Ord local Gi* statistic and county-level employment data from 1990, 1997, and 2003 to identify and analyze spatio-temporal changes in clusters of manufacturing and service industries. Our research findings show significant increases and/or decrease of manufacturing and services industries in various spatial clusters at state and regional levels. From our analysis, the dynamic interplays between manufacturing and service industries have shown interesting spatial clustering patterns that may provide useful hints to local government policies on future economic developments of US and Korean society.