High-technology manufacturing in the nonmetropolitan west: Gold or just glitter

Tobit analysis was utilized to determine if employment, occupational, and market-linkage characteristics of nonmetropolitan high- and low-technology manufacturers differed after controlling for select firm and community characteristics. Data on manufacturers’ characteristics were collected through an extensive survey of nonmetropolitan firms in the eleven contiguous western states. The results indicate that the employment size of high- and low-technology manufacturers was similar. Nonmetropolitan high-technology manufacturers were more rapidly growing, export oriented, and skilled-labor intensive than low-technology firms. The low-technology manufacturers maintained stronger backward linkages with the local economy.