Microregional Fragmentation : Contrasts Between a Welfare State and a Market Economy

This book analyses the spatial consequences of current transformation of the industrial structure and of public intervention in Sweden. The analysis is based on a number of empirical studies, not only in Sweden but for comparative reasons also in the state of North Carolina in the US, i.e. representing an environment with a more farreaching influence of market forces. The results indicate the development of a more fragmented and less predictable pattern of problems and options in Swedish regions. Especially the intermediate socio-economic regions - between the metropolitan agglomerations and the traditional peripheral rural areas - are highlighted and hypothesized to include certain comparative advantages in the new context