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Abstract
Rural manufacturing received a big impetus during World War II and has since become an important part of the economy of rural America. Various concepts, such as agglomeration, product cycle, and the filtering-down process, have been used to explain rural manufacturing; the historical development of these concepts is discussed here. After declining in the 1980's, rural manufacturing has rebounded in the 1990's. The increasing use of technology by manufacturers in rural areas holds out hope that these areas will increase their share of skilled and high-paying manufacturing jobs.