An economic base study examines those employment areas in a region's economy that contribute to the rate and direction of growth of the region.
Regional employment is divided between jobs in the basic and nonbasic sectors.
Employment in the basic sector involves the production of goods and services that are exported from the region to other areas of the nation and world, while employment in the nonbasic sector provides supporting activities which service the basic industries, their workers and their families. The study was done at the county level as that is the most discrete level at which uniform employment data is provided in the United States. The analysis also determined the coefficient of specialization at each five-year interval and compared each basic employment sector in Maricopa County to the same sector in other metropolitan counties in the southwestern United States. The location quotient is a device used to gauge the relative specialization of each industry within the region as compared to similar specialization within the nation. It is these industries that constitute the economic base of the region.