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.