Supply Chains, Material Linkage and Regional Development

The importance of economic linkage to regional development has been implicit in the variety of approaches that have been taken to analysing the development process. Despite this, no mechanism exists which allows a general assessment of regional supply networks. The paper provides one approach to this type of evaluation in UK regions. Focusing on the North West of England and taking UK input-output tables as the basis of analysis, sectoral linkages with supply potential are identified and their magnitude estimated. The paper reveals both the scope for extending material linkages and generating employment in this region of the UK as well as confirming the important role played by manufacturing industries in intermediate supply chains.