Birth and Death of Manufacturing Plants and

Restructuring in Appalachia’s Industrial Economy,

1963 – 1992

Evidence from the Longitudinal Research Database

J. Bradford Jensen*

H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management

Carnegie Mellon Census Research Data Center

Carnegie Mellon University

February 1998

 

*

 This research was conducted under contract to the Appalachian Regional Commission, contract CO12817-97. The research was conducted at the Carnegie Mellon Census Research Data Center. Research

results and conclusions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily indicate concurrence by the

U.S. Bureau of the Census or the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Executive Summary

The objective of this paper is to paint a statistical portrait of Appalachia’s

manufacturing sector, focusing on the rate of entry and exit of new and old

establishments, the pay and productivity characteristics of plants in Appalachia, the role

of branch plants in the Region, and whether there is significant variation in these

measures within Appalachia. The picture is mixed:

Manufacturing in Appalachia, relative to the rest of the country, looks much the same

in 1992 as it did in 1967 – lower wage, lower productivity, and still highly reliant on

branch plants.

Plants in Appalachia over the period of the study are concentrated in low wage, low

productivity industries and, even when accounting for the region’s unique industry mix,

pay lower wages and have lower productivity than plants elsewhere in the US.

This is not due to a lack of new entrants: Manufacturing plant entry rates in the

Region overall are only slightly lower than the US as a whole.

Further, job formation rates associated with entrants are only slightly lower than the US.

Job destruction rates at plants exiting the region are also lower than the US.

New entrants into Appalachian manufacturing have tended to reinforce the Region’s

existing low wage, low productivity manufacturing base.

Establishments and employment associated with entrants are concentrated in low wage,

low productivity industries in Appalachia. Even when accounting for the region’s unique

industry mix, manufacturing entrants in the Region pay lower wages and have lower

productivity than entrants in the same industry elsewhere in the United States.

Branch plants continue to be large contributors of better than average employment

opportunities in Appalachia.

Branch plants continue to pay higher wages and have higher productivity than single-unit

plants in the region. In fact, there is evidence the differential has increased. While the

share of employment at branch plants is decreasing in Appalachia and the US, branch

plants still account for 75 percent of manufacturing employment in Appalachia.

While these trends hold for the Region in aggregate, there is considerable variation

within the Region, with the South experiencing the most favorable outcomes over the

period and the North slipping relative to the national experience.

Entry rates in the North consistently lag the nation and the rest of Appalachia. Entry rates

in South and Central Appalachia exceed entry rates nationally. While all three regions

have lower wages and lower productivity than the US, the difference between the South

and the US decreased over the period. In contrast, in the North it increased and in the

Central it was unchanged.
1

Introduction

The manufacturing sector has undergone tremendous change. Globalization and

technological change are driving restructuring and downsizing in American

manufacturing. The US economy has experienced tremendous restructuring over the past

fifteen years at all levels; manufacturing plants have re-engineered their operations,

companies have restructured, and as a result, regions and the country as a whole have

experienced dramatic economic change. Factories, and the jobs associated with them,

have relocated to other regions of the country or have left the US altogether. Increasing

foreign trade and changes in technology have affected the competitive position of the

industrial plants that remain, and thus the employment opportunities and future prospects

of industrially dependent regions. These trends have generated interest and concern

among the general public about the availability of “good jobs at good wages” and the

prospects for long-term economic growth.

The concern is as great or greater in Appalachia. Characterized in the 1960’s as an

economically deprived area, the manufacturing sector generally, and manufacturing

branch plants specifically, have been a cornerstone of the Region’s economic

development efforts. The Region has looked to the manufacturing sector as a source of

relatively well-paid, stable employment opportunities. Historically, manufacturing firms

have looked to rural areas for relatively low-wage workers and favorable business

climates in which to operate. These factors have historically made Appalachia attractive

to certain types of manufacturing industries.

Indeed, the Region has made progress. Isserman (1996) suggests that the gap

between Appalachia and the rest of the country is shrinking. Glasmeier (1997) suggests

that federal policy has contributed significantly to the transformation of the nation’s rural

areas. Yet the success is not unqualified. Isserman suggests that while parts of the region

are catching up, some still considerably lag the nation. Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson

(1995) suggest that a major cornerstone of rural economic development, manufacturing
2

and more specifically, manufacturing branch plants, are increasingly affected by the

trends of globalization and technological change. It seems that the manufacturing

operations that rural areas have historically attracted (relatively low wage, low

productivity) are most exposed to these trends. The Region’s historical reliance on the

manufacturing sector and the restructuring that trade and technology are fostering, suggest

that a taking stock exercise is warranted. This study examines how the manufacturing

sector in Appalachia has evolved over the past thirty years. It focuses specifically on three

main questions:

1) Is the Region attracting new manufacturing plants at the same rate as the rest of the

country?

One key indicator of the economic opportunities in a region is the rate at which

new job opportunities are created. New plants offer new employment opportunities for

workers. New plant formation rates can also be seen as a measure of the economic vitality

of a region. To see how Appalachia fared during this period of restructuring, this study

examines whether new plant formation in Appalachia matches new plant formation in the

rest of the country. We examine the entry of new manufacturing establishments and the

exit of existing establishments across 5-year intervals relative to the US entry and exit

rates.

Beyond providing new employment opportunities, new plants and firms can have

a transforming effect on regions. If new plant formation is concentrated in particular

sectors, this can significantly affect the industrial base in a region. We characterize the

nature of entrants and examine their impact on the Region’s manufacturing base.

2) Is the manufacturing base in the Region still low wage, low productivity?

Historically, the industrial base of Appalachia has been concentrated in low

growth, low wage, low productivity industries. We examine the evolution of the
3

manufacturing base in Appalachia, focusing not only on industrial composition, but also

the pay and productivity of the plants. While industrial mix is important, industry is just

one characteristic of a plant or a job. Jobs at plants that are more productive and pay high

wages are typically considered to be “better” jobs than less productive, lower paying jobs,

all else being equal. While industries are characterized as high or low wage and high or

low productivity, there is considerable variation even within detailed industry groups.

Even in low wage industries, some plants pay high wages. The unique data used in this

study allow us to compare pay and productivity characteristics of individual plants across

regions. We describe the characteristics of new entrants and examine what role, if any,

new entrants had on industrial restructuring. We present evidence on the industry, pay,

and productivity of plants in the Region at various points in time, and also compare

characteristics of entrants in Appalachia to entrants in the rest of the country.

Another important characteristic of a manufacturing plant is its ownership

structure. Branch plants differ in many ways from single-unit plants. Branch plants tend

to pay higher wages and to be more productive than single-unit plants. We examine the

role of branch plants in Appalachia, how prevalent they are, and what type of job

opportunities they provide.

3) Is the Region still heavily reliant on branch plants?

Branch plants have long dominated employment opportunities in rural America

(Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson (1995)), and contributed steady, high wage, high

benefit employment opportunities for rural workers. Branch plants have traditionally

located in rural areas because of low labor costs and favorable business climates. Yet,

with changes in trade and technology, businesses can now consider locations anywhere in

the world. Rural America is no longer as favorable in terms of low wages and favorable

business climate. This study examines whether branch plants continue to contribute

significantly to the Appalachian manufacturing sector, both in terms of share of

employment and the wage and productivity characteristics of the jobs.
4

About the Data used in the Study

To develop this statistical portrait, we use the Longitudinal Research Database

(LRD), a unique, detailed, plant level database, which covers the entire US manufacturing

sector from 1963 to 1992 in 5-year intervals. The LRD has linked plant level observations

from the 7 Censuses of Manufactures across time.1 The Census of Manufactures provides

detailed data on plant characteristics, such as location, size, industry, wages, output, and

branch plant status. Thus, the LRD allows us to examine birth and death rates in

manufacturing and the plant characteristics of the births and deaths. We use the

geographical identifiers on the LRD to classify plants as in the Region or outside and

examine births and deaths and the wage and productivity characteristics of plants in the

Region and the US.

Summary of Results

Manufacturing in Appalachia, relative to the rest of the country, looks much the same

in 1992 as it did in 1967 – lower wage, lower productivity, and more reliant on branch

plants.

While the Region may be catching up to the rest of the nation on a number of

socioeconomic measures (Isserman (1996)), this does not seem to be true for the Region’s

manufacturing base. In 1967, the Region’s manufacturing plants and employment were

concentrated in low productivity, low wage industries. Even when comparing plants in

the same industry in the Region to the rest of the country, plants in Appalachia were

lower wage and lower productivity. This remains true in 1992.

 

1

 The LRD contains plant, or establishment, level data in contrast to firm, or enterprise, level data. An

establishment is a physical location engaged in manufacturing activity. It is not a corporate entity.
5

This is not due to a lack of new entrants: Manufacturing plant entry rates in the

Region overall are only slightly lower than the US as a whole.

Further, exit rates are also slightly lower than the US. The job formation rate

associated with new plants is only slightly lower than the US, and again, job losses

associated with plant closure is also lower than the US. Together, these suggest that plant

and job formation in the Region is not that different than the rest of the country. While

these trends hold over most of the period considered, they do not hold for all sub-regions

within Appalachia.

New entrants into Appalachian manufacturing have tended to reinforce the Region’s

existing low wage, low productivity manufacturing base.

The characteristics of these new plants and jobs do not compare favorably to the

rest of the country in terms of pay and productivity. Comparing the average

manufacturing plant in the Region to the average manufacturing plant in the US, the

Region’s plants are larger, pay lower wages, and are less productive. Part of this is due to

the composition of plants and jobs in Appalachia. Establishments and employment are

concentrated in lower wage and lower productivity industries in the Region.

When we control for these industry composition differences, the differences

decrease, but even controlling for industry differences, plants in the Region pay lower

wages and are less productive than plants in the same industry elsewhere in the US. The

same is true for entrants in the Region. Entrants in the Region are concentrated in lower

wage and lower productivity industries (for instance, textiles and apparel). Further, new
6

manufacturing plants in Appalachia, even controlling for industry composition, pay lower

wages and are less productive than new entrants elsewhere in the US.

Branch plants continue to be large contributors of better than average employment

opportunities in Appalachia.

The Region continues to have a greater concentration of plants and employment at

branch plants than the rest of the country. This holds, in general, across industries,

particularly in industries that are important in the Region’s economy. Entry continues to

reinforce this, as entrants in the Region are more likely to be branch plants than elsewhere

in the country. In terms of characteristics of jobs, branch plants continue to contribute

“good” jobs to the Region. Branch plants have higher wages and higher productivity than

non-branch plants in the Region, and there is some evidence the difference is increasing.

The same holds true for new entrants that are branch plants – they have higher wages and

higher productivity than other new entrants.

While these trends hold for the Region in aggregate, there is considerable variation

within the Region, with the South experiencing the most favorable outcomes over the

period and the North slipping relative to the national experience.

The North has had the lowest plant entry rates, consistently lower than the

national entry rate, while the South and Central sub-regions have had higher entry rates

than the rest of the nation. While all three sub-regions had consistently lower average

wage and productivity than the rest of the country, the relative wage and productivity

characteristics in the different sub-regions had different trends. The average wage in the

North relative to the rest of the country decreased over the period. In contrast, the average

wage in the South relative to the US increased.

Appalachian Manufacturing in 1967: Low Wage, Low Productivity
7

We begin with a portrait of Appalachian manufacturing in 1967. In 1964, the

President’s Commission on Appalachia characterized Appalachia as a region apart. It

offered fewer employment opportunities and lower wages than other regions of the

country. This same characterization held for the manufacturing sector in Appalachia. On

average, manufacturing plants in Appalachia had lower wages and lower productivity

than other regions of the country. Average plant wages and productivity for

manufacturing plants in Appalachia relative to the rest of the country are shown in

Table 1. 2

Table 1

Comparison of Plants in Appalachia to Plants in the Rest of the Country

1967

(Percent Difference from Plants in Rest of Nation)

Wages Productivity

Appalachian Plants

(on Average)

-0.154** -0.153**

Appalachian Plants -0.064** -0.068**

(controlling for Industry and

Urban/Rural Differences)

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

The average manufacturing plant in Appalachia paid 15.4 percent less and was

15.3 percent less productive than plants elsewhere in the country. Part of this is due to the

fact that plants in Appalachia were concentrated in low wage, low productivity industries.

In order to examine the differences in the region’s industry mix relative to the rest of the

nation, we have computed industrial location quotients which show the concentration of

establishments or employment in Appalachia relative to the rest of the country. If a

particular industry accounts for a larger share of the Appalachian manufacturing than that

 

2

 Appendix II describes the specification used to estimate these differences. The results will be presented as

the percent difference between the mean plant in the ARC and the mean US plant outside the ARC.
8

industry accounts for nationally, the location quotient will be greater than 1. If the

industry accounts for less of Appalachian manufacturing than it does nationally, it will be

less than 1. Industry location quotients are displayed in Figure 1 (see Appendix IV for a

list of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) for all major industry groups in the

manufacturing economy).

Figure 1

Figure 1 ranks the industries by their average wage in 1992, with industries with

low average wages on the left and industries with high average wages on the right. In

1967, Appalachia had both establishments and employment concentrated in low wage

industries. With the exception of the higher paying sectors of Primary Metals (SIC 33)

and Chemicals (SIC 28), employment is concentrated in relatively low wage industries

such as Textiles (SIC 22), Stone and Clay Products (SIC 32), Apparel (SIC 23), and

Concentration of Appalachian Employment in 1967

by Major Industry Group Relative to Rest of Nation

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

23 31 22 24 25 39 20 30 27 32 34 36 26 35 33 38 37 21

(D)

28 29

Two Digit Standard Industrial Classification Code (ranked by 1992 wages)

Location Quotient
9

Furniture (SIC 25).3 In addition to paying low average wages, many of these same

industries have low average labor productivity. Thus, much of Appalachian

manufacturing is concentrated in low wage, low productivity industries.

The second set of results summarized in the lower panel of Table 1 take into

account the differences in industry mix and urban and rural differences to compare plants

in the same industry in the Region and outside the Region. 4 Accordingly, controlling for

the differences in industry composition and urban and rural locations, yields a smaller

wage and productivity differences between plants in Appalachia and plants elsewhere, but

a difference persists. These results show that in 1967, on average, plants in Appalachia

paid 6.4 percent less than plants in the same industry and same urban or rural setting

elsewhere in the country. In addition, plants in Appalachia were 6.8 percent less

productive than plants elsewhere in the country, once one controls for industry types and

urban/rural locations. In the next section we examine 1992 data to analyze the changes

that have occurred in the Appalachian manufacturing economy.

The Region in 1992

In 1992, as in 1967, much of the manufacturing sector employment in the Region

is concentrated in low wage, low productivity industries. The concentration of

Appalachian employment by major industry groups is depicted in Figure 2, which uses

the location quotients of employment in 1992, again ranked by industry average wages, to

compare the Appalachia’s industry mix with the rest of the nation. While remarkably

similar to the overall industry mix in 1967, the industry composition has changed, with

the relative share of employment by industry increasing in Textile Mill Products (SIC 22),

Lumber and Wood Products (SIC 24), Furniture and Fixtures (SIC 25) and Rubber and

 

3

 The Region also has a high concentration of employment in the Tobacco industry (SIC 21) which pays

relatively high wages in 1992. The data for this industry is suppressed to prevent disclosure.

4

 See Appendix II for a description of the specification. Controlling for industry and urban/rural removes

the effects of differences in the industry and urban/rural composition of the different regions.
10

Figure 2

Miscellaneous Products (SIC 30), and decreasing substantially in Stone, Clay, Glass and

Concrete Products (SIC 32) and Primary Metal Products (SIC 33).

Further, in Table 2 we see a comparison of the wages of plants in Appalachia to

the rest of the country. Over time, the pattern shows a persistent wage gap, although the

wage differentials narrowed in the 1970s, and then widened in the 1980s, with only a

modest reduction registered in 1992 differentials. Over time, the average plant in

Appalachia pays between 10 and 15 percent lower wages than plants elsewhere in the

Concentration of Appalachian Employment in 1992

 by Major Industry Group Relative to Rest of the Nation

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

23 31 22 24 25 39 20 30 27 32 34 36 26 35 33 38 37 28 21

(D)

29

Two Digit Standard Industrial Classification Code (ranked by 1992 wages)

Location Quotient for Employment
11

country. If industry composition and differences in urban and rural location are controlled

for, the differential decreases. Nonetheless, a substantial wage differential still persists

over the time period, with plants in Appalachia paying between 4 and 8 percent lower

wages compared to similar plants elsewhere in the country. As we shall see below, some

of these persistent differences are attributable to the pattern of entry and exit of new and

existing plants that has tended to reinforce the existing low wage industrial mix.

Table 2

Comparison of Wages at Plants in Appalachia to US

(Percent Difference Compared to Plants in Rest of Nation)

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

Appalachian

Plants

(on Average)

-0.154** -0.110** -0.103** -0.127** -0.142** -0.135**

Appalachian

Plants

(controlling for

Industry and

Urban/Rural

Differences)

-0.064** -0.053** -0.044** -0.064** -0.078** -0.073**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

Table 3 shows a similar story for productivity. Without controlling for industry

composition, the average plant in Appalachia is about 15 percent less productive than the

average manufacturing plant elsewhere in the country. If industry composition and urban

and rural differences are taken into account, plants in the Region are still about 7 percent

less productive than plants elsewhere.
12

In some sense, the Region is ending up in the same place that it started. This is not

to say there hasn’t been wage or productivity growth. Nationally, overall manufacturing

sector productivity growth has been strong. The Region, as a whole, has been keeping up,

but not gaining ground. Part of the reason that the Region has not gained ground is that

while there has been considerable entry and exit in Appalachian manufacturing, it has

tended to reinforce the Region’s existing low wage, low productivity manufacturing base.

In the next section, the paper examines how the Region compared to the rest of the

country in terms of attracting and creating new manufacturing plants.

Table 3

Comparison of Productivity at Plants in Appalachia to US

(Percent Difference Compared to Plants in Rest of Nation)

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

Appalachian

Plants

(on Average)

-0.153** -0.137** -0.129** -0.154** -0.151** -0.150**

Appalachian

Plants

(controlling for

Industry and

Urban/Rural

Differences)

-0.068** -0.057** -0.05** -0.073** -0.080** -0.069**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

Entry and Exit Rates

One measure of the economic vitality of a region is the rate at which new

establishments are being opened in the region. New plants provide new job opportunities

for workers in the area and augment the existing tax base. We examine the rates of new

manufacturing plant formation in the US over the past thirty years and compare new plant
13

formation in the Region to the US. The LRD allows us to calculate plant entry and exit

rates at 5-year intervals for the period beginning 1963 and ending in 1992. The entry rate

is simply a measure of the portion of the existing plants in a region that opened in the

previous five years. Similarly, the exit rate is the portion of plants in operation in a region

that went out of business over the next five years.5 We use the entry and exit rates in the

US as a benchmark against which to compare entry and exit rates in Appalachia.

Plant entry rates for US manufacturing establishments for each of the 5-year

periods between 1963 and 1992 are reported in Table 4. We see that the US

manufacturing sector is very dynamic. Over the sample period, new entrants in each 5-

year period account for between 32 percent and 42 percent of all manufacturing

establishments. In addition to a significant share of plants entering in each period, a

significant portion of plants exit each period. Between 35 percent and 39 percent of all

establishments exit in each 5-year period. This is evidence of significant turnover in the

manufacturing sector. 6

Table 4

Establishment Entry Rates

for the US Manufacturing Sector

(Percent Change during Five-Year Period)

Period 1963-67 1967-72 1972-77 1977-82 1982-87 1987-92

Plant Entry Rate .318 .391 .423 .381 .369 .387

Figure 2 shows the employment associated with entrants for each 5-year period. These

graphs show a very dynamic picture as well. Between 11 percent and 15 percent of all

employment is accounted for by new entrants in each 5-year period. The employment

graph also shows cyclical dynamics, with higher employment creation due to entrants

 

5

 The appendices describe the data in more detail and describe how we calculate entry and exit rates for

establishments and measure the employment associated with entrants and exits.

6

 The reported entry and exit rates are similar to those reported in Dunne, Roberts, and Samuelson (1988).
14

during expansions.7 While the five-year periods do not correspond exactly to peaks and

troughs in the business cycle, the entry rates do vary over the periods. Entry rates tend to

be higher during booms and lower during contractions. For example, the 1977-1982

period, which contained two recessions as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis,

the employment entry rate is lower than other periods. To gain a sense of how entry varies

over the business cycle, we compare the entry rate over the 1977-82 period to the 1982-87

period. The employment weighted entry rate over the 1977-1982 period, which contained

two recessions, is .117. The entry rate for the 1982-1987 period, which contained no

recessions, is .140. The employment weighted entry rate is about 20 percent lower for the

77-82 period than the 82-87 period. This gives us some sense for evaluating the

differences over the business cycle.

Figure 3

 

7

 There are also higher employment losses to exits during recessions. Davis, Haltiwanger, and Shuh (1996)

report similar patterns in gross job creation and destruction numbers. While the patterns are similar, we are

restricting our analysis to the employment associated with entrants and exits. Davis, Haltiwanger, and Shuh

look at gross job creation and destruction rates at both entrants and exits and employment associated with

reallocations across continuing plants.

National Manufacturing Entry Rates

 Weighted by Total Employment

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.2

1963 to 1967 1967 to 1972 1972 to 1977 1977 to 1982 1982 to 1987 1987 to 1992

Five Year Intervals

Weighted Entry Rate
15

To compare entry and exit rates in Appalachia to the US, we classify each plant as

being in the Region or not, based on the county in which the plant is located. Figure 4

shows the entry rates for the Region relative to the US for the period.8 As Figure 4 shows,

for most years the entry rates for the Region are only slightly less than the US. For 63-67,

82-87, and 87-92, the entry rates are only about 0.005 lower than the US rate. For the

periods 72-77 and 77-82, the entry rate in the Region is appreciably lower, approximately

0.023 lower in 72-77 and about 0.038 in 77-82. It is difficult to gauge the economic

significance of these differences. One way to characterize the difference is as a percentage

of the US total. For the 77-82 period (which contained two recessions), the

Figure 4

 

8

 The LRD contains some records (less than 5%) which have spurious geographical code changes. To

mitigate the effect these spurious geography code changes have on calculated entry and exit rates for

particular regions, we report entry and exit rates relative to the US. We compared relative entry and exit

rates excluding the plants that changed geography codes, and the results were qualitatively and

quantitatively similar.

ARC Plant Entry Rates Relative to the 

National Manufacturing Plant Entry Rates

-0.04

-0.035

-0.03

-0.025

-0.02

-0.015

-0.01

-0.005

0

1963 to 1967 1967 to 1972 1972 to 1977 1977 to 1982 1982 to 1987 1987 to 1992

Five Year Inte rvals

Relative Plant Entry Rate
16

Region entry rate is about 10 percent lower than the national rate (which was relatively

low over this period). This suggests the Region was even harder hit than the rest of the

country in the 79 and 81-82 recessions. In contrast, for the 87-92 period, the Region’s

entry rate is only about 0.8 percent lower than the US rate.

The exit rates are also lower for all years, and lowest in the most recent period.

For the 87-92 period, the Region exit rate was 0.033 lower than the US, a difference of

about 9 percent. These results suggest that the rate of new plants opening in the Region,

particularly recently, does not differ dramatically from the US entry rate. Further, the exit

rate is lower as well, probably compensating for lower entry rates. Overall, the Region

experienced slightly lower entry rates and slightly lower exit rates than the rest of the

country. We will see later that the regional trends, however, mask considerable variation

among the different sub-regions of Appalachia.

Entrants: Industry, Pay, and Productivity

We now turn to the question of the nature of the entrants into the Region. We

have shown that entry and exit rates in the Region are only slightly lower than the rest of

the US (with the exception of the 1977-82 period). We have also shown that in 1967 and

1992 plants in the Region paid lower wages and were less productive than other plants in

the US. Now we consider the differences between entrants in the Region and entrants

elsewhere in the country, to see how entrants affect the industry mix, wage, and

productivity composition of plants and to see if there is evidence of restructuring within

the Region.

We focus on three key aspects of new entrants: 1) is the industrial mix of new

entrants in the Region similar to the rest of the country, 2) do new entrants in the Region

compare favorably to new entrants elsewhere in terms of pay, and 3) do new entrants into

the Region compare favorably in terms of productivity. To investigate the industrial
17

composition of new entrants in the Region, we analyze the cumulative number of entrants

in each industry in the Region compared to the rest of the country.

Once again we measure concentration of industries relative to the rest of the

nation (using a location quotient) to demonstrate the industries in which the Region had

higher entry rates than the rest of the nation and industries which had lower entry rates

than the rest of the nation. Where the location quotient is greater than one, the Region had

a higher share of entry in this industry than the rest of the country. Where the location

quotient is lower than one, the Region had a lower share of entry in this industry than the

rest of the country.

Figure 5

Figure 5 shows the relative concentration of employment by industry associated

with all entrants in Appalachia over the 1967-1992 period. The industries are ranked

according to average pay in 1992, with low wage industries grouped on the left hand side

Concentration of Appalachian Employment at New Entrants

 by Major Industry Group: 1967 to 1992

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

23 31 22 24 25 39 20 30 27 32 34 36 26 35 33 38 37 21

(D)

28 29

Two Digit Standard Industrial Classification Code (ranked by 1992 wages)

Location Quotient for Employment
18

of the graph and high wage industries grouped on the right hand side of the graph. The

cumulative measure resembles the location quotient for employment in 1967 (see Figure

1). Figure 5 indicates that the employment at new entrants over the 67-92 period were

concentrated largely in the same industries as the distribution of employment as in 1967,

thereby reinforcing the patterns found in the1967 manufacturing base.

Further, with the exception of the high wage Primary Metals sector (SIC 33),

employment at new entrants was concentrated in relatively low wage manufacturing

industries. The data indicate that the Region was creating more than its share of jobs in

Textiles (SIC 22), Apparel (SIC 23), Wood Products (SIC 24), and Furniture (SIC 25).

All of these industries pay below the average manufacturing wage.

The distribution of exits is also similar to the overall distribution of employment.

It is mostly concentrated in Textiles and Apparel. One exception is Primary Metals

production (SIC 33), which had higher levels of employment at exits and lower levels of

employment at entrants, evidence that this industry was decreasing in importance in the

Region. With the exception of Primary Metals, entrants and exits mirror the existing

manufacturing sector. Overall, this evidence indicates that on balance, most of the regionwide industrial restructuring seems to be a result of plant exits, rather than plant entries.

While entrants and exist have not significantly changed the industrial mix in the Region,

we are also concerned with whether new entry has affected the pay and productivity

characteristics of the Regions—a topic that we now turn to examine.

Characteristics of Entrants

A key issue for assessing the prospects of a region’s economic development is

whether the pay and productivity of plants entering in the Region show evidence that

these new plants are contributing to better employment opportunities in the Region. We

attempt to address this question by comparing the pay and productivity characteristics of

new entrants in the Region to new entrants elsewhere in the country. In this section, we
19

use a sub-sample of all plants and consider only new entrants. New entrants are, on

average, smaller, pay lower wages, and are less productive than continuing plants in the

same industry. Because of these differences, we compare the pool of new entrants in the

Region to new entrants in other parts of the country (and exclude continuing plants from

this portion of the analysis).

Table 5

Comparison of Wages at New Entrants in Appalachia to US

(Percent difference from National Average)

Entry Period 1963-67 1967-72 1972-77 1977-82 1982-87 1987-92

Appalachian

Plants

(on Average)

-0.157** -0.102** -0.079** -0.113** -0.133** -0.11**

Appalachian

Plants

(controlling for

Industry and

Urban/Rural

Differences)

-0.058** -0.046** -0.035** -0.051** -0.082** -0.058**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

Tables 5 and 6 (upper panels) report how new entrants in the Region compare to

new entrants elsewhere in the country (without controlling for industry or location).9 New

 

9

 These regressions are run only on the sub-sample of plants that are new entrants in each period. See

Appendix II for more discussion of the specification.
20

entrants in the Region tend to pay less than non-Region new entrants. The difference in

pay ranges roughly between 8 percent and 16 percent less than plants elsewhere in the

country. Further, productivity in new plants in the Region also lags the rest of the nation.

With the exception of 1977, new entrants in the Region are approximately 15 percent less

productive than non-Region entrants. Though not reported here, new entrants in the

Region tend to be larger than new entrants elsewhere in the country. Entrants in the

Region tend to be about 10 to 15 percent larger than new entrants elsewhere (probably

reflecting that more of the entrants in Appalachia are branch plants – more on this later).

Table 6

Comparison of Productivity at New Entrants in Appalachia to US

(Percent difference from National Average)

Entry Period 1963-67 1967-72 1972-77 1977-82 1982-87 1987-92

Appalachian

Plants

(on Average)

-0.155** -0.134** -0.100** -0.146** -0.145** -0.144**

Appalachian

Plants

(controlling for

Industry and

Urban/Rural

Differences)

-0.062** -0.056** -0.035** -0.064** -0.082** -0.059**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

The results in the previous section demonstrated that entrants are concentrated in

the same industries as existing plants. We have also seen that this industrial composition

affects the average wage and productivity characteristics in the Region. We want to

control for these industry composition differences, and compare the wage and
21

productivity characteristics of new plants in the Region to new plants in the same industry

in the rest of the country. The lower panels of Tables 3 and 4 report the differences

between plants in the Region and plants elsewhere after controlling for industry and

urban/rural mix. Again, like the results for all plants, we see that industry composition

and urban/rural are important. When we control for these differences in composition, the

differences between the Region and the rest of the country diminish, but are still

statistically significant. Entrants in the Region pay lower wages and have lower

productivity than plants in the same industry in other parts of the country. The differences

in average pay are cut in half, but still range between 3 percent and 8 percent lower over

time. The same holds true for productivity. Once industry and urban/rural mix are

controlled for the differences are reduced, but over time plants in the Region still are

between 3 percent and 8 percent less productive than plants in other parts of the country.

These results, in combination with the results of the previous section, suggest that

new entrants are not contributing significantly to a restructuring of the Region’s

manufacturing sector, either through changing the industry composition or by providing

relatively higher wage or productivity jobs than elsewhere in the country. To the extent

that there is industrial restructuring occurring in Appalachian manufacturing, it is not

affecting the average wage and productivity differentials.

Branch Plant Economy

Branch plants, plants owned by enterprises that have multiple plants (as opposed

to single-plant enterprises), have traditionally played a large role in rural economies and

rural economic development strategies (Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson (1995)). They

have provided good stable jobs with relatively high wages and full benefits. Large, multiplant corporations had looked to rural areas for low wage workers and favorable business

climates. Now, with increased import competition from low wage countries, more
22

opportunities to invest in low wage countries, and increasing technological change, these

multi-plant companies are under increased pressure to lower costs and have a wider range

of options than choosing to locate in Appalachia. The wage rates in Appalachia, while

low relative to the rest of the country, do not look low relative to wages elsewhere in the

world. While branch plants have played an historical role in the Region, there is a sense

that these plants are more susceptible to the changes in foreign trade and foreign direct

investment and technological change.

In this section we examine the role that branch plants play in the Appalachian

manufacturing sector and how it has evolved over time. We start by examining the wage

and productivity characteristics of branch plants in the Region relative to single-unit

plants.

Table 7

Wage and Productivity Premia at Branch Plants

Compared to Single Unit Plants in Appalachia

(Including Industry and Urban/Rural Controls)

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

Wages .076** .095** .068** .150** .120** .094**

Productivity .182** .204** .202** .288** .277** .286**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

Table 7 shows the wage and productivity premia at branch plants compared to

single-unit establishments.10 On average, branch plants in Appalachia pay higher wages

and are more productive than single-unit plants. This relationship holds nationally as

well. Branch plants tend to be bigger and belong to larger corporations. These

 

10 Due to processing changes made at the Census Bureau in 1982, in tables 6, 12, and 13, we exclude

administrative records. Administrative records are very small plants, typically less than 20 employees, that

are not mailed a survey form. Instead, their data is culled from administrative data from other government

agencies. The change in processing significantly affects the relative wage and productivity differentials.

Rather than introduce a bias due to processing changes, we exclude the administrative records.
23

characteristics are correlated with higher wages and higher productivity. Thus, it is not

surprising that branch plants in Appalachia have higher wages and higher productivity

than other plants in the region. What is interesting is there is evidence that the

productivity advantage of branch plants is increasing. The productivity difference

between branch plants and single-unit plants increased by 57 percent between 1967 and

1992. The trend in wages is somewhat different. There is a large increase in the wage

premium at branch plants in 1982, but it then declines over the 1982 to 1992 period.

Moreover, by controlling for industry and location type, we are able to surmise that

branch plants are concentrated in more productive, higher pay industries, and tend to be

located in urbanized areas of the region. Both of these trends, increases in the wage and

productivity premia are going on nationally as well.

These results confirm those in Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson (1995) that

suggest that branch plants offer, on average, higher wage and higher productivity

employment opportunities than single-unit plants. Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson also

suggest that branch plants have been an important piece of the rural economy.

We now turn to the prevalence of branch plants in Appalachia. Table 8 shows the

percentage of establishments in the United States that are multi-units (branch plants) and

the percentage of plants in Appalachia that are branch plants. The lower panel of the table

shows the percentage of manufacturing sector employment that is in branch plants for the

United States and the Region.

While branch plants account for a small share of manufacturing establishments

nationally, ranging between 10 and 20 percent of establishments, they account for the

bulk of employment in manufacturing. Branch plants account for around 70 percent of

employment in manufacturing for the United States.
24

Table 8

Share of Manufacturing Plants and Employment at Branch Plants

in Appalachia and the US

(percent of total plants and employment)

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

US - Plants .169 .206 .205 .207 .198 .189

ARC - Plants .221 .260 .261 .275 .253 .242

US - Employment .720 .746 .750 .731 .712 .697

ARC - Employment .776 .800 .809 .782 .759 .754

Branch plants account for a larger share of plants in Appalachia than the rest of

the country. This is true in almost all industries (the sole exception across years is the

Food Industry (SIC 20)).11 Further, in industries where employment is concentrated in the

Region, like Textiles (SIC 22) and Apparel (SIC 23), the differences are large. In

Textiles, between 15 percent and 20 percent more plants are multi-units in the Region

than elsewhere in the country. The same holds for Apparel. A higher percentage of the

manufacturing plants in the Region are branch plants than elsewhere in the country.

Branch plants also account for a larger share of employment in Appalachia than

the rest of the country. While the share of employment at branch plants nationally varies

between 70 percent and 75 percent, the share of employment in Appalachia at branch

plant ranges between 75 percent and 80 percent – typically about 5 percent higher in

Appalachia than in the US. In both the US and Appalachia, we can see that the share of

employment at branch plants peaked in 1977 and have decreased since then.

 

11 In 1967 in both Petroleum (SIC 29) and Primary Metals (SIC 33) the percentage of multi-units in the

ARC was less than the US. By 1977 this had changed.
25

A key concern for state and regional economic development specialists is the

share of new entrants plants and employment at branch plants in a given state or region

and how this relationship has changed over time. To answer these questions, Table 9

presents the data on the share of new entrant plants and employment at branch plants for

the United States and Appalachia. We see that new entrants in Appalachia are more likely

to be branch plants than new entrants elsewhere in the country. In addition, more

employment at entrants in Appalachia is concentrated at branch plants than elsewhere in

the country. This again seems to be a story of new entrants reinforcing the existing

industrial base.

While branch plants continue to account for a larger share of both plants and

employment in Appalachia relative to the rest of the country, the share is declining

steadily, leading to a smaller difference with the rest of the nation. Nevertheless, branch

plants continue to contribute significantly better employment opportunities largely

because branch plants pay higher wages and have higher productivity than single-unit

establishments. A cautionary note, however, is raised by these trends, as the steady

erosion of the employment share of branch plants within the region underscores how

vulnerable the region may be to the effects of the internationalization of trade and the

acceleration of technological innovation. In this context, Appalachia’s reliance on these

types of plants for high wage, high productivity jobs poses new policy challenges,

particularly in formulating appropriate strategies that permit the region to retain and

attract these types of plants and jobs.
26

Table 9

Share of New Plants and New Employment at Branch Plants

in Appalachia and the US

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

US - Plants .149 .166 .131 .111 .123 .110

ARC - Plants .181 .195 .154 .151 .140 .136

US - Employment .570 .570 .516 .455 .518 .490

ARC - Employment .659 .636 .569 .514 .516 .572

Sub-Regions within Appalachia

The preceding sections paint a picture of manufacturing in the Region as only

slightly less dynamic than the rest of the country, but offering lower wage and lower

productivity employment. The Region is large, and it would not be surprising if there is

variation in experience within the Region. In fact, the data for the Region as a whole hide

considerable variation within Appalachia. The different regions within Appalachia have

experienced very divergent outcomes over the past thirty years. In this section, we break

the Region into three sub-regions, North, Central, and South, and examine entry rates of

manufacturing plants, the industrial composition in each region, and the pay and

productivity characteristics of manufacturing plants in the Region.12

 

12 In Appendix III we show how the entry and exit rates differ across the ARC portion of states within the

ARC. In general, these rates are consistent with the results for the three sub-regions.
27

Figure 6

Entry and Exit Rates by Sub-Region

It is striking how disparate the experiences of the different regions have been over

the past 30 years. Figure 6 shows how plant entry rates within the sub-regions of the

Region compare to the US. The North region has had consistently lower entry rates than

the other regions in Appalachia and than the US as a whole. For the 1987-92 period, the

entry rate in the North was about 12 percent lower than the US as a whole. During the

70’s and early 80’s, the entry rate was even lower relative to the US and the rest of the

Region. While it is difficult to interpret the magnitude of these differences, the gap in

ARC Plant Entry Rates Relative to National Manufacturing Entry Rates 

by ARC Sub-Region

-0.1

-0.08

-0.06

-0.04

-0.02

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

1963 to 1967 1967 to 1972 1972 to 1977 1977 to 1982 1982 to 1987 1987 to 1992

Five Year Intervals

Relative Plant Entry Rate

North

Central 

South
28

North’s relative entry rate is similar in magnitude to the effect of a recession on the

national entry rate.

The experience in the Central and South is dramatically different. Entry rates in

the Central and South exceed entry rates in the nation. With the exception of the 1977-82

recession period, the Central region has experienced relatively high entry rates compared

to other parts of the Region and to the US. The South has also experienced high entry

rates relative to the US, but the entry rates have been more consistent than the Central.

In terms of exit rates, again, the sub-regions experienced different outcomes. The North

has had consistently lower exit rates than the rest of the Region and the US. One notable

exception is the North region for the 1982-87 period. For this period, the North’s exitrelated job loss rate was very similar to the US as a whole. The Central region has had

slightly higher exit rates than the Region and the US. The South had slightly higher exit

rates in the early part of the period, but recently has had a lower exit rates than the US.

The higher entry rates, and only slightly higher or lower exit rates, in the Central and

South have contributed to employment growth in these regions.13

Industry, Pay, and Productivity by Sub-Region

We also see there is variation in the industrial mix of entrants to the three regions.

Figure 7 shows that entrants in the North are concentrated in Primary Metals (SIC 33),

Stone and Clay Products (SIC 32), Electrical Machinery (SIC 36), Wood Products (SIC

24), Leather Products (SIC 31), and Apparel (SIC 23). With the exception of Primary

Metals and Electrical Machinery, the entrants are concentrated in relatively low wage

industries. Entrants in the Central are concentrated in low-wage industries of Apparel,

Leather Products, and Wood Products. With the exception of the high wage industries in

Primary Metals, entrants in the South are concentrated in low wage sectors of Textiles

(SIC 22), Furniture (SIC 25), Primary Metals, and Wood Products. Thus, the pattern of

 

13 Again, it is important to emphasize that this analysis is only part of the picture. We are excluding

employment reallocations across continuing plants from the analysis. These reallocations across continuing

plants are also an important component of employment growth.
29

entry rates within the sub-regions have tended to reinforce the existing industrial base in

relatively low wage industries.

Figure 7

Next, we examine whether there is similar variation in the pay and productivity

differences between plants within the Region. Because we know that some of this

variation is accounted for by the differences in the industry composition across regions

and differences in the urban/rural mix, we control for these differences in the analysis.

We see in Table 10 that, again, the sub-regions have had different experiences

over the 1967 to 1992 period. While all three regions have consistently lower wages than

the rest of the country, trends within each sub-region vary. The difference in average

wages in the North seems to increase over the period. In 1967, the average plant in the

North has about 4.4 percent lower wages than the average plant elsewhere in the

Concentration of Employment at New Entrants 

by Major Industry Group in ARC Sub-Regions: 1967 to 1992

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

23 31 22 24 25 39 20 30 27 32 34 36 26 35 33 38 37 28 21

(D)

29

(D)

Two Digit Standard Industrial Classification Code (ranked by 1992 wages)

Cumulative Location Quotient

North

Central 

South
30

country(controlling for industry and location). In 1992, the average plant in the North has

over 9 percent lower wages than the rest of the country. Average wages in the Central

region showed larger decreases relative to the rest of the country. The South, in contrast,

appears to be closing the gap with the differences in average wages between the South

and the rest of the country decreasing over the period from almost 9 percent in 1967 to

5.2 percent in 1992 .

Table 10

Wages in Appalachia Compared to the US

by Sub-Region

(Controlling for Industry Composition and Urban/Rural Differences)

Percent Difference compared to US

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

North -0.044** -0.045** -0.024** -0.021** -0.058** -0.092**

Central -0.089** -0.070** -0.073** -0.125** -0.122** -0.101**

South -0.088** -0.061** -0.064** -0.100** -0.092** -0.052**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

Average productivity in the three sub-regions, as illustrated in Table 11, show

trends similar to average wages. Average plant level productivity is consistently lower in

all three sub-regions relative compared to similar industries and locations in the rest of

the country, but the three regions had varied experiences. The differences between the

average plant in the North and Central and the rest of the country increased, while the

average productivity difference between plants in the South and the rest of the country

decreased.
31

Table 11

Productivity in Appalachia Compared to the US

by Sub-Region

(Controlling for Industry Composition and Urban/Rural Differences)

Percent Difference compared to US

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

North -0.059** -0.052** -0.041** -0.060** -0.068** -0.075**

Central -0.071** -0.048** -0.063** -0.116** -0.126** -0.094**

South -0.082** -0.065** -0.058** -0.082** -0.085** -0.061**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level

The evidence on entrants is similar. The entrants in all three sub-regions tend to

be larger than the rest of the United States. Entrants tend to pay lower wages than the rest

of the country. Again, similar to the above results, the entrants in the South had the

smallest wage difference for the 1987-92 period, suggesting that plants in the South are

narrowing the difference with the rest of the country. Entrants and exits in all three subregions also have lower labor productivity than entrants and exits in the rest of the

country.

Branch Plants by Sub-Region

Appalachia has a higher proportion of plants that are branch plants and a higher

share of employment at branch plants than the rest of the country. Table 12 shows the

same holds for all three sub-regions of Appalachia. While all three have higher shares of

employment at branch plants, the South has the highest share of employment at branch

plants and the North the lowest. Further, all three sub-regions reflect the national trend of

decreasing employment at branch plants, but the magnitude of the change has differed

across the sub-regions. The change between 1977 (the peak in all regions) and 1992 was a
32

decrease of about 8 percent in the North, 5 percent in the Central, and 4 percent in the

South.

Table 12

Share of Employment at Branch Plants in Appalachia

by Sub-Region

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

US .72 .75 .75 .73 .71 .69

ARC - North .78 .79 .80 .77 .73 .72

ARC - Central .75 .80 .80 .77 .74 .75

ARC - South .78 .81 .82 .79 .78 .78

Table 13 exhibits the relative wage differences between branch plants and single

unit plants by sub-region. Again, the variation is striking. In the Central region there is

little difference between the average wage of branch plants and single-unit plants. This

contrasts with the difference in the North, where branch plants have roughly 10 percent

higher wages than single-unit plants. In the South, branch plants in 1967 paid roughly 3

percent higher wages than single-unit plants but by 1992, they paid almost 10 percent

higher wages than single-unit plants, a three-fold increase.
33

Table 13

Wage Premia at Branch Plants in Appalachia

by Sub-Region

(Controlling for Industry Composition and Urban/Rural Differences)

Percent Difference compared to US

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

North .115** .123** .110** .212** .147** .097**

Central .022 .046* .008 .082* .054* .041*

South .031** .067** .033** .097** .104** .098**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level, * at the 5 percent level

Table 14 shows the relative productivity differences between branch plants and

single-unit plants. In the Central region, branch plants have a productivity differential 28

percent higher productivity than single-unit plants. In the North, the productivity

differential between branch plants and single-units is about 29 percent. In the South, the

productivity differential between branch plants and single-unit plants nearly quadrupled,

from roughly 18 percent to 29 percent. Overall, these results suggest that branch plants in

Appalachia are concentrated in relatively higher productivity and higher wage industries,

and in more urbanized areas. One noteworthy observation is that the composition of

branch plants in the South has shifted from a concentration in low productivity industries

in 1967 to having a higher concentration in high productivity industries in 1992, based on

our analysis of industry mix.
34

Table 14

Productivity Premia at Branch Plants in Appalachia

by Sub-Region

(Controlling for Industry Composition and Urban/Rural Differences)

Percent Difference compared to US

Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992

North .186** .231** .214** .307** .277** .288**

Central .173** .145** .150** .268** .229** .281**

South .177** .179** .197** .272** .283** .286**

** denotes statistical significance at the 1 percent level, * at the 5 percent level

The fact that branch plants continue to account for nearly 80 percent of

employment in the South, combined with the increasing productivity and especially pay

differentials between branch plants and single-units, suggests that branch plants are a

significant factor in the South’s improving conditions. In the North and Central, branch

plants also constitute a significant fraction of employment, but do not show increasing

pay differentials.

Conclusion

We have covered a lot of ground. Before discussing the conclusions, we should

mention a few caveats that accompany this analysis. First, this analysis focuses only on

the manufacturing sector, so entry, exit, pay, and productivity developments in the service

sector and other sectors are not considered here. Second, the analysis only considers entry

and exit. It does not examine the reallocation of employment across continuing plants. To
35

the extent that these reallocations are important, this analysis misses this portion of job

creation and destruction. Third, the results presented here do not explicitly consider plantlevel changes over time, such as changes in a plant’s equipment through replacing older

vintage equipment, or increases in the scale of production, or increases in capital

intensity. The results document average changes across industrial sectors and various

regions. Thus, these results reflect average changes that could be driven by changes in the

region’s or sub-region’s industrial composition or by plant-level changes. Last, the

analysis does not examine the causes of these trends, it merely documents the trends.

Changes in demographic characteristics, educational attainment, infrastructure,

technological innovation, business climate, international trade, and other factors could

contribute to the observed trends.

What conclusions can we draw about the manufacturing sector in Appalachia?

First, manufacturing in Appalachia, relative to the rest of the country, looks much the

same in 1992 as it did in 1967 – lower wage, lower productivity, and more reliant on

branch plants, even after accounting for regional differences in industry mix and urban

and rural location. Second, this is not due to a lack of new entrants. Manufacturing plant

entry rates in the Region overall are only slightly lower than the United States as a whole.

Third, job formation rates associated with entrants are only slightly lower than the rest of

the United States. Job destruction rates at exits are also lower than the United States.

While this is true for the Region taken together, there is considerable variation

within the Region. The North region has lower entry rates and lower exit rates. The

Central region has higher entry rates and higher, but decreasing, exit rates. The South has

higher entry rates, and recently, has had lower exit rates.

The sub-regions also differ in their entry-related and exit related job creation and

loss rates. These differences in the regions contribute to the differences in aggregate

employment outcomes between 1967 and 1992:14

 

14 Again, it is important to emphasize this ignores employment growth and decline at continuing plants.
36

• the Central region experienced more than a 66 percent net employment increase;

• the South region experienced a 19 percent increase;

• the North experienced a 37 percent decrease in manufacturing employment.

The evidence on the “quality” of the jobs associated with these plants is less

heartening. New entrants into Appalachian manufacturing have tended to reinforce the

Region’s existing low wage, low productivity manufacturing base. Establishments and

employment associated with entrants are concentrated in low wage, low productivity

industries in Appalachia. Even controlling for industry composition, manufacturing

entrants in the Region pay lower wages and have lower productivity than entrants in other

regions in the United States. Entrants in Appalachia are also more likely to be branch

plants than elsewhere in the United States.

Again, there are differences across the sub-regions within Appalachia. The wage

differential between the South and the US decreased over the period. In contrast, in the

North it increased and in the Central it was unchanged.

Another significant finding is that branch plants are still an important part of

Appalachia’s economy. In particular, branch plants continue to be large contributors of

better than average employment opportunities within Appalachia. Branch plants pay

higher wages and have higher productivity than single-unit plants. In fact, there is

evidence the differential has increased. While branch plants only accounts for about onequarter of the total number of plants in the region, and the share of employment at branch

plants is decreasing in Appalachia and the United States, branch plants still account for

75 percent of employment in Appalachia. Further, increased average wages at branch

plants in the South are likely contributing to the South closing the gap with the US.

The policy implications of these findings are difficult to tease out from this

analysis because this study did not attempt to analyze what has determined regional

productivity changes and changes in the industrial mix of the region. Nor has it attempted
37

to analyze the effects of different public policies, such as industrial recruitment policies,

tax preferences or regional factors that may explain some of these patterns. Moreover, it

is important to note that the findings of this analysis should not be construed as settling

the claims and counterclaims about whether large or small businesses account for the

greatest share of job creation in the region. Indeed, because this analysis does not include

an examination of the service sector, where most of the region’s job growth has occurred

over the last decade, essential baseline data analysis is lacking to address such issues.

Despite these limitations, a central policy implication that does emerge from the

pattern of entry and exit, and rapid job creation and destruction, is the need for

continuous public and private investment in job training, reemployment and employment

services. While it is beyond the scope of this study to make any specific

recommendations about the size or scope of such investments, this study’s findings

underscore how the region’s manufacturing economy has exhibited a continuous churning

of jobs, which engenders a considerable amount of job displacement. Given the rapid job

flow among industries, and the well documented pace of technological change, it may

also make sense to consider investing in updating of industrial skills standards for

assessment and education and training programs. A region’s capacity to efficiently adjust

its labor market, and improve its labor productivity, depends in large measure on making

sound investments in human resource development.

One issue, albeit only indirectly related to these findings, is whether the region’s

reliance on the branch plants makes it more vulnerable to import penetration and/or

certain types of plant relocation, particularly in more labor-intensive industries and

operations. While the findings in this report do not identify which sectors may be most

vulnerable to such tends, they certainly do raise questions about the comparative

advantage of those sectors that depend on the low-wage labor market. Answers to these

complex questions would require a more detailed analysis of import-sensitivities by

industry.
38

Another set of issues relates to whether the branch plant economy has influenced

the region’s manufacturing base either by stimulating or retarding the formation of

clusters, subcontracting chains and networks among specific industries. Many anecdotal

industry accounts indicate some stimulus of clusters, particularly between the automobile

branch plants and auto parts sectors, and the textile and precision machine tool sectors.

However, the findings in this study indicate that in aggregate, the single-unit plants have

had low productivity growth compared to branch plants, even after controlling for

industry composition. Thus, if clustering has taken place, it must be rather limited and/or

recent.

The results suggest continuing challenges for policy makers seeking to improve

the relative condition of Appalachian manufacturing. The Region continues to generate

plants and jobs in low wage, low productivity industries. Further, these plants pay lower

wages and have lower productivity than plants in the same industry elsewhere in the

country. The Region continues to be heavily reliant on branch plants for relatively high

wage and high productivity jobs. To the extent that branch plants and low wage, low

productivity jobs are more susceptible to changes in trade and technology, the Region

may face mounting challenges in the future.
39

References:

Davis, S., J. Haltiwanger, and S. Shuh. (1996) Job Creation and Destruction. Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press.

Dunne, T., M. Roberts, and L. Samuelson. (1988) “Patterns of Firm Entry and Exit in

U.S. Manufacturing Industries,” RAND Journal of Economics, vol. 19, no. 4, pp.

495-515.

Glasmeier, Amy. (1997) “Rural America and 21st Century Development Policy: The

Federal Role,” Pennsylvania State University mimeo.

Glasmeier, Amy, Amy Kays, and Jeffrey Thompson, with Rob Gurwitt. (1995) Branch

Plants and Rural Development in the Age of Globalization. The Aspen Policy

Institute.

Isserman, Andrew M. (1996) “Socio-Economic Review of Appalachia: Appalachia Then

and Now: An Update of ‘The Realities of Deprivation’ Reported to the President

in 1964,” Appalachian Regional Commission mimeo.

Isserman, Andrew M. (1996) “Socio-Economic Review of Appalachia: The Evolving

Appalachian Economy,” Appalachian Regional Commission mimeo.

McGuckin and Pascoe. (1988) “The Longitudinal Research Database (LRD): Status and

Research Possibilities.” Survey of Current Business, vol. 68, no. 11, pp. 31-37.
40

Appendix I: Data Description

The data used in this paper are from the Longitudinal Research Database (LRD). The

LRD is composed of the Census of Manufactures from each year it was collected starting

in 1963 (63, 67, 72, 77, 82, 87, and 92). The data items available on the LRD include

employment, wages, output, capital, material inputs, etc. The plants on the LRD are

assigned unique identifiers that allow the plants to be tracked over time, creating a panel

data set. For more information on the LRD, see McGuckin and Pascoe (1988).

Appendix II: Definitions/Methodologies

In this section, we describe the definitions of entrants, exits, and describe the

specifications used for the regressions.

Definition of entrants and exiters

Entrants are defined as plants that are not present in a Census in a previous period

(period t-1) and are present in the current Census (period t). We track entrants between

1963 (the first Census of Manufactures available) and 1967. Plants that are there in 1967

but not present in 1963 are called entrants. Plants that are in the Census in 1963 and not

in 1967 are defined as exits. Below we define how we calculate entry and exit rates.

NE(t) = New Entrants between t-1 and t

NX(t) = Exiters between t and t+1

NT(t) = All Manufacturing Plants in period t

EE(t) = Total Employment associated with entrants between t-1 and t

EX(t) = Total employment associated with exits between t and t+1

ET(t) = Total Employment at all plants in period t

Entry Rate = NE(t)/NT(t)
41

Exit Rate = NX(t)/NT(t)

Employment Formation Rate = EE(t)/ET(t)

Employment Attrition Rate = EX(t)/ET(t)

Regression Specifications:

To describe the differences between plants in the ARC and plants outside the

ARC, we run a series of regressions. The coefficients of interest are the coefficients from

the dummy variables for the ARC (or for sub-regions within the ARC). The dependent

variables, plant size, wages and labor productivity, are all expressed in logs. Thus, the

coefficients on the ARC or Sub-Region dummies can be interpreted as the percentage

difference between the mean ARC plant and the mean non-ARC plant.

Specifications with No Controls:

log(Plant Sizei) = α + β ARCi

Specifications with Industry and Urban/Rural Controls:

log(Wagesi) = α + β ARCi + δ Industryi + γ Rurali

By Sub-Region With Industry and Urban/Rural Controls:

log(Productivityi) = α + β1 Centrali + β2 Northi + β3 Southi + δ Industryi + γ Rurali

Where:

Plant Sizei = Total Employment at the Plant

Wagesi = Average Wages at the Plant (Total Salaries and Wages/Total

Employment)

Productivityi = Labor Productivity at the Plant (Value Added/Total Employment)

ARCi = 1 if the plant is in the ARC, 0 otherwise
42

Centrali = 1 if the plant is in the Central region of the ARC, 0 otherwise

Northi = 1 if the plant is in the North region of the ARC, 0 otherwise

Southi = 1 if the plant is in the South region of the ARC, 0 otherwise

Rurali = 1 if the plant is not in an SMSA, 0 otherwise

Industryi = Set of approximately 450 Dummies representing each 4-digit SIC code

For the specification where we are comparing the average job in the ARC to the average

job outside the ARC, the same set of specifications are used, but each observation is

weighted by plant size (total employment). The coefficients from this regression can be

interpreted as the difference between the average job in the ARC compared to the average

job outside the ARC.
43

Appendix III: Entry and Exit Rates by State within the ARC

Entry Rates by ARC Portion of

States

1963-67 1967-72 1972-77 1977-82 1982-87 1987-92

ARC - AL 0.392 0.457 0.473 0.383 0.406 0.429

ARC -GA 0.374 0.484 0.487 0.431 0.456 0.446

ARC - KY 0.399 0.432 0.447 0.380 0.363 0.463

ARC - MD 0.219 0.312 0.296 0.313 0.377 0.396

ARC - MS 0.407 0.410 0.500 0.384 0.407 0.459

ARC - NC 0.332 0.395 0.425 0.392 0.365 0.375

ARC - NY 0.262 0.297 0.334 0.299 0.315 0.321

ARC - OH 0.274 0.316 0.368 0.313 0.330 0.335

ARC - PA 0.259 0.316 0.334 0.285 0.326 0.332

ARC - SC 0.344 0.405 0.412 0.368 0.376 0.363

ARC - TN 0.340 0.408 0.439 0.386 0.381 0.407

ARC - VA 0.417 0.433 0.481 0.385 0.376 0.400

ARC - WV 0.319 0.358 0.376 0.303 0.348 0.404

Exit Rates by ARC Portion of

States

1967-72 1972-77 1977-82 1982-87 1987-92

ARC - AL 0.415 0.366 0.398 0.353 0.356

ARC -GA 0.397 0.382 0.417 0.369 0.388

ARC - KY 0.436 0.359 0.413 0.333 0.361

ARC - MD 0.279 0.307 0.345 0.313 0.345

ARC - MS 0.394 0.359 0.412 0.306 0.360

ARC - NC 0.392 0.327 0.379 0.313 0.333

ARC - NY 0.349 0.272 0.340 0.301 0.314

ARC - OH 0.321 0.322 0.359 0.288 0.294

ARC - PA 0.336 0.309 0.334 0.312 0.307

ARC - SC 0.281 0.327 0.338 0.303 0.322

ARC - TN 0.366 0.359 0.394 0.339 0.337

ARC - VA 0.468 0.375 0.392 0.349 0.346

ARC - WV 0.397 0.335 0.385 0.356 0.342
44

Appendix IV. Standard Industrial Classification by 2 digit Major Industry Group

Manufacturing sectors based on 1987 manual

SIC 20 Food and kindred products

SIC 21 Tobacco products

SIC 22 Textile mill products

SIC 23 Apparel and other finished fabric products

SIC 24 Lumber and wood products

SIC 25 Furniture and fixtures

SIC 26 Paper and allied products

SIC 27 Printing, publishing and allied industries

SIC 28 Chemicals and allied products

SIC 29 Petroleum refining and related industries

SIC 30 Rubber and miscellaneous plastic products

SIC 31 Leather and leather products

SIC 32 Stone, clay, glass and concrete products

SIC 33 Primary metal industries

SIC 34 Fabricated metal products, except machinery and transportation equipment

SIC 35 Industrial and commercial machinery and computer equipment

SIC 36 Electronic and other electrical equipment & components

SIC 37 Transportation equipment

SIC 38 Measuring, analyzing and controlling instruments; photographic, medical

and optical goods; watches and clocks

SIC 39 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries