Scribd
Upload
910 views4 pages

François Perroux's Concept of A Growth Pole PDF

François Perroux introduced the concept of growth poles in 1949 to describe industries or firms that drive economic development through linkages with other businesses. While intuitively appealing, there is no consensus on how to define growth poles. Perroux described them occurring in "abstract economic space" involving economic plans, fields of influence, or homogeneous aggregates, rather than geographic regions. A growth pole is dominant over and propulsive to other industries through external economies of scale and forward or backward linkages that stimulate additional production. Despite Perroux's non-geographic definition, the concept is often applied to analyze regional economic development driven by influential industries or cities.

Uploaded by

Savan Aaya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
910 views4 pages

François Perroux's Concept of A Growth Pole PDF

François Perroux introduced the concept of growth poles in 1949 to describe industries or firms that drive economic development through linkages with other businesses. While intuitively appealing, there is no consensus on how to define growth poles. Perroux described them occurring in "abstract economic space" involving economic plans, fields of influence, or homogeneous aggregates, rather than geographic regions. A growth pole is dominant over and propulsive to other industries through external economies of scale and forward or backward linkages that stimulate additional production. Despite Perroux's non-geographic definition, the concept is often applied to analyze regional economic development driven by influential industries or cities.

Uploaded by

Savan Aaya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

FranoisPerroux'sConceptofAGrowthPole

FranoisPerrouxintroducedtheideaofeconomicGrowth
Polesin1949.Heandothershavewrittenabouttheconcept
extensivelyandyet,despitethisorperhapsbecauseofthis,there
isnoconsensusastowhatitmeans.Thereisconsiderable
intuitiveappealoftheconceptandsoithashadinfluenceon
policymakers.Thepolicymakerspresumedthateconomists
couldsupplythetechnicalanalysisneededtomakesenseofthe
policiesbasedupontheconceptofgrowthpoles.
Theintuitivenotionofgrowthpoleswouldidentifyagrowthpole
asanindustryorperhapsagroupoffirmswithanindustry.At
anextremeagrowthpolemightbeasinglefirmoritmightbea
groupofindustries.Perroux,however,definedgrowthpolesin
termsofwhathecalledabstracteconomicspace.Perroux
conceivedofabstracteconomicspacetobeofthreetypes:

aneconomicplan
afieldofforceorinfluences
ahomogeneousaggregate

Perrouxspecificallydeniedthatabstracteconomicspacecould
correspondtoageographicareasuchasacityorregion.
ForPerrouxtheaspectofdominancewasimportantforgrowth
poles.AfirmorindustryAissaidtobedominantoverBifthe

flowofgoodsandservicesfromAtoBisagreaterproportionof
A'soutputthantheflowfromBtoAisofB'soutput.Alargefirm
orindustrythathasahighdegreeofinteractionwithothersand
isdominantinthatinteractionissaidtobepropulsive.Theprocess
ofdevelopmentofapropulsivefirmorindustryis
calledpolarization.
Perrouxandotherwritersongrowthpolestrytobasetheconcept
onthenotionsofexternaleconomies,agglomerationandlinkages.
Anexternaleconomyexitsifachangeintheoutputofonefirmor
oneindustryaffectscostsinotherfirms.Externaleconomiesof
scalemaybenegative,asinthecaseofpollutionscosts,orthey
maybepositive,asinthecaseofthedevelopmentofintegrated
circuittechnologyintheelectronicsindustry.
Linkageisaconceptdevelopedinregionaleconomics.Linkages
maybeforwardorbackward.Ifagrowthinproductioninone
industrystimulatesproductionintheindustriessupplyingitthen
thatindustryhasbackwardlinkages.Forexample,thesteel
industryhasbackwardlinkagestotheironoreminingindustry,
thecokeandcoalindustriesandthetransportationindustry
involvedintransportingthoseinputstothesteelindustry.A
forwardlinkagewhentheavailabilityoftheoutputofanindustry
makepossibletheproductionofindustriesusingthatoutput.For
example,theplasticproducingindustrymakesitfeasablefor
businessesrequiringplastictobeginoperation.
TheFrencheconomist,JR.Bourdevillemadeastudyofthesteel
industryoftheBrazilianstateofMinasGeraisasagrowthpole.
DespitePerroux'sdenialthatgrowthpolesaregeographicmany
oftheapplicationsoftheconceptareforgeographicregions.
Theseapplicationsoftenareenlightening.Forexample,the
regionaleconomyofPariscanbeconsideredtobeagrowthpole.

ThecaseofParisshowsthateffectofpolarizationonthe
surroundinggeographicareaisnotalwayspositive.The
attractionofParishasbeensogreatthatithasbeenextremely
difficulttopromoteanyeconomicdevelopmentintheareaoutside
oftheParisregion.Frenchplanningliteraturereferstothisasthe
phenomenonofParisandtheFrenchDesert.
IntheU.S.theconceptofgrowthpoleshasusuallytakentheform
emphasizinggeographiclocationwhicharecalledGrowthCenters.
Growthcentersarerelatedtotheconceptofagglomeration.In
manywaystheAmericanworkongrowthcentersisvirtually
independentofPerrouxandtheFrenchliteratureongrowth
poles.
AlbertHirschmanusesthetermpolarizationtorefertothe
negativeimpactofagrowthpoleonsurrounding
regions.Tricklingdownisthetermheusesforthepositiveimpact
ofagrowthpoleorgrowthcenteronadjacentregions.Gunnar
Myrdal,theSwedisheconomist,usethe
termsbackwashandspreadforthesameconceptsasHirschman's
polarizationandtricklingdown.
TheAmericaneconomist,JohnR.Friedman,hasdevelopeda
conceptthatisrelatedbutdistinctfromtheideasofgrowthpoles
andgrowthcenters.Itiscalledthematterofthecenterversusthe
periphery.Friedmandevelopedthisideainanalyzingthe
relationshipoftheinteriorregionsofVenezuelatothecoastal
regions.Othershaveextendedtheconcepttotherelationshipof
theNorthAtlanticcenterofWestermEuropeandNorthAmerica
toLatinAmerica,AfricaandSoutheastAsia.
Altogethertheconceptofgrowthpoleshasbeenofonlymarginal
importanceinanalyzingregionaleconomicproblems.
Neverthelesstheideaofgrowthpoleshashadamajorrolein

formulatingregionalpolicy.
Source:DavidDarwent,"Growthpolesandgrowthcentersin
regionalplanningareview,"EnvironmentandPlanning,vol.1
(1969),pp.532.

You might also like