A study of the nature and structure of industries in the Christchurch employment district for the years 1960 to 1970

Abstract

In discussing the industrial structure of a region, it is important to distinguish between the activity structure and the organic structure. The former is concerned with what the industrial occupational pattern of the region is, how this pattern has changed over the period of time studied, what the relative importance of the different industries is and how mobile the industrial labour force has been over a particular period of time. Organic structure, on the other hand, is concerned with the type of firms that characterise the industries, their form of administration and the type of markets served. To a certain extent, the organic structure affects the activity structure. For example, the strength of the profile of industries in a region depends on the strength of the backward and forward linkages of the industries (which is dependent on the existence of industries producing the relevant intermediate and final products, to a significant level) and the type of markets served.