Explain the concept of Geographical Inertia with respect to location of Industries.
It is usually found that it is cheaper to modernise a manufacturing unit or to convert it to another kind of unit rather than to move it to a new site.
The capital (physical capital in the form of machinery etc.) immobility is thus a factor encouraging inertia. Inertia is also encouraged by the development of many secondary advantages arising from the presence of industry in an area and these may offset the losses of the original location. Hence it can be argued that the ability of an area to keep its industry is as important as the ability to attract it.
The presence of facilities like those of transport, labour availability and the economic and social services in a given location encourages inertia.
There are also the factors resulting from the advantages that a firm can get from being in association with the other firms in that area and some industries can be regarded as location leaders either because they provide raw materials for other industries or because they require specialised firms to supply parts etc. Concentration of manufacturing activity in many areas can be explained in the light of these factors.