End of Chapter 3 Questions and Answers
1. What is the difference between an MSA and a CMSA?
Answer: An MSA ("metropolitan statistical area") is a basic metropolitan area. Each
MSA consists of one (or a very few) designated central cities whose population exceeds
50,000, plus the surrounding urbanized area defined for statistical purposes by county boundaries, encompassing not only the county (or counties) in which the central cities are located, but also adjacent counties which are sufficiently urbanized and linked economically (e.g., by commuting patterns) to the central cities.
A CMSA ("consolidated metropolitan statistical area") is a cluster of two or more adjacent MSAs, which are economically linked to some degree to a dominant MSA and together have a population of at least 1 million. Roughly speaking, if there is significant cross-commuting or daily travel among adjacent MSAs, then these are grouped together into a CMSA.
2. What is the population of the city you live in? What is the population of the county you live in? Do you live in a MSA as defined by the Census Bureau? If so, what counties are in it, and what is its total population? Do you live in a CMSA as defined by the Census Bureau? If so, what PMSAa are in it, and what is its total population?
Based on the author’s city as of 2002:
Population of Cincinnati City: 331285
Population of Hamilton County: 845,303
Cincinnati city is part of the “Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN CMSA” with a population of 1,979,202.
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN PMSA and Hamilton-Middletown, OH PMSA are part of this
CSMA.
3. Explain how the three major "centripetal" or centralizing economic forces can interact to create the phenomenon known as "cumulative causation".
Answer: The three major centripetal forces are “Economics of Scale”, “Economics of
Agglomeration” and “Positive Locational Externalities”.
“Economics of Scale” means that it is cheaper and more efficient to produce in large quantities. "Agglomeration economies" are cost or productivity advantages to the clustering of firms or worksites physically near each other. "Positive locational externalities" occurs when one firm benefits from the nearby location of another firm without the first firm being able to fully profit from this benefit.
As more firms cluster together, the local population and production swells, providing a larger local market for all manner of goods and services. This allows larger scale production, which, in the presence of scale economies, allows lower cost, more efficient production, which in turn stimulates further demand for additional production. Thus, in the presence of scale economies there can be an external benefit merely to the location of firms near each other, even if they are not directly technologically and physically related

to one another. In other words, scale economies can integrate the notions of
"agglomeration economies" and "positive locational externalities".
The sort of "growth spiral" described above has been referred to as "cumulative causation".
4. According to the simple version of the "rank/size rule" presented in this chapter, how big should Boston be? Approximately what is the population of Boston?
Answer: Largest City (New York MSA) has a population of 21,199,865 and Boston MSA is ranked 7 th
as per population. Hence as per rank/size rule:
Boston MSA population as per this rule = 21,199,865 / 7 = 3,028,552
The population of Boston is approximately 5,819,100.
5. Which city in America would you say has "grown the most" in the 20th century?
Explain your answer.
Answer: Phoenix city has grown 1251% from 1950 to 1998, which is the largest percentage growth for any U.S. city; hence we can say that Phoenix has grown the most in the 20 th
Century.
6. Which of the following are examples of a "basic" industry in a city: a) A grocery store b) A motel serving primarily traveling salesmen c) An aircraft engine factory d) A large hotel serving primarily out-of-town convention business
Explain your answer
Answer: A grocery store caters primarily to city residents and does not generate revenue from external sources, hence cannot be classified as “basic” industry.
Aircraft engines are manufactured for the national and international markets, bringing revenue to city from external sources. A motel serving traveling salesmen caters to persons visiting the city from outside thus bringing in revenue from external sources.
Similarly hotels serving primarily out-of-town convention business also generate revenue from external sources. Thus Aircraft engines, motel and large hotel are all classified as
“basic industries”

7. The following are local and national employment figures for three industrial sectors.
Calculate the location quotients for each industry, and state which industries are part of the export base of the local economy:
Industry
Local
Employment
National
Employment
Automobile Assembly 10,000 1,500,000
Legal Services
Alcoholic Spirits Prod. & Distribution
3,500
2,500
2,000,000
400,000
Total All Employment 300,000 120,000,000
Automobile assembly LQ = (10,000 / 300,000) / (1,500,000 / 120,000,000) = 2.667
Legal Services LQ = (3,500 / 300,000) / (2,000,000 / 120,000,000) = 0.7
Alcoholic Spirits P&D = (2,500 / 300,000) / (400,000 / 120,000,000) = 2.5
LQ of “Automobile assembly” and “Alcoholic spirit” industries are significantly above one; hence they are part of the export base of the local economy, while LQ of “Legal
Services” is below one and is part of the service sector.