A reconnaissance through the history of shift-share analysis

Some research methods come and go, and others persist through time. If you had asked regional analysts in 1980 about the future of shift-share analysis, most of them undoubtedly would have grunted in dismal tones. Statistical software and ever-rising computational capacity appeared to be storm clouds on the horizon for this analytical approach that had no apparent theory to support it. But now, almost 30 years later, we find the shirt-share is “still alive and well,” in fact perhaps in greater use than ever before, seemingly due in part to the intensive worldwide proliferation of electronic spreadsheets, some even pocket-ready. This paper takes the reader on a reconnaisance of the literature that attempts to explain how shift-share has managed the hazards of time, the cloaks it presently dons, and possible avenues in which researchers may wish to direct its future development