Geography & Environment Publications
Exploring Regional Firm-Size Structure in Canadian Housebuilding: Ontario, 1991 and 1996
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-2004
Volume
25
Issue
3
Journal
Urban Geography
First Page
241
Last Page
263
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.25.3.241
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the regional firm-size structure of housebuilding in Canada based on a case study of the province of Ontario. Using an innovative database of builders in Ontario and geographic information systems, measures of regional firm-size structure are developed and are modeled with data from the Canadian census. The results corroborate established models in the city systems and industrial organization literatures in that industrial concentration is negatively associated with regional population size, economic diversity, and economic performance. Small housebuilding firms abound in large, diverse and economically vibrant regions, especially large urban regions, and thereby maintain industrial deconcentration.
Notes
Dr. Michael Buzzelli is currently a faculty member at The University of Western Ontario.