Kansas Economic Development, 1985 and Beyond: A Method and Application

Abstract

This monograph examines the growth prospects for Kansas industries over the next decade. Within the context of a generalized life cycle for industries, nineteen potential growth industries were identified. The input-output linkages of these industries were then analyzed to determine their effects upon economic development in the state. The findings of this analysis are summarized below:

(1) The existing Kansas industrial profile does not show a high degree of investment in those industries likely to grow rapidly in the next 10 years. (2) High opportunity industries for Kansas are not primarily high-tech industries. (3) Nonelectrical machinery manufacture, transportation, and wholesaling are the major Kansas industries most strongly linked to potential growth industries. (4) Nonelectrical machinery manufacture, plastic products manufacture, and transportation activities appear to be industries that can be both attracted to Kansas and expected to provide employment growth over the next decade.

As well, the analysis suggests that the outputs of Kansas industries could act as a "magnet'" to out-of-state industries seeking to relocate or expand elsewhere. In particular, the drug, plastics, machinery, and instrument industries can be thought of as forming a target list of "immigrant" industries that public and private economic development efforts could focus upon.