Industrial Environments: a Niche Theoretic Interpretation

The problem of exact quantitative definition of the concept of an industrial environment is examined. One possible approach that might be adopted is the idea of the niche and, in particular, the niche pattern. Experiments which use synthesised data sets to summarise the urban industrial environment of Britain are outlined. Two data sets are constructed - one using 1971 cross-sectional information and one limited time-series information. From these data sets it is possible to derive an overall niche pattern for eight different kinds of firm for both the cross-sectional and time-series cases. The interpretation of these patterns seems to indicate the utility of a niche-theoretic approach as a heuristic device and, perhaps, with larger and more refined data sets, as an analytical device.