Abstract
This article proposes that the idea of a regional sectoral cluster can provide economic development practitioners with more fruitful guidance for local sectoral policy than can the traditional conceptions of the industrial complex Outstanding studies of the steel sector in Chicago and the motion picture industry in Los Angeles illustrate the traditional analyses of the industrial complex. But studies of the optics and imaging sector in Rochester, New York, and the waste management sector in Buffalo suggest that these traditional analyses are excessively rigid for local economic development practice. The lessons lead us to a more open conception of sector-specific interrelationships that local practitioners could draw on to diagnose and strengthen selected sectors in their regions.
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