Employment data for 1952, 1963, 1968, 1973 and 1976 for the British conurbations are analysed to demonstrate the extent of job loss in the inner city areas and the growth of the outer city areas. Shift-share analysis is used at a 116-sector level of disaggregation to identify the structural and residual components of this employment change. It is clear that the inner cities consistently have a positive structural component so that their poor employment performance cannot be attributed to sectoral mix. The outer areas generally had a less favourable structure so that their positive residual components reflect a 'better than average performance'. This disparity between inner and outer city areas cannot be explained by short distance relocation. Most industries appear to be affected by the inner city problems as measured by the residual component.
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