Akron, Ohio: Regional Economy at the Turning Point

Abstract

Throughout most of the twentieth century the city of Akron, Ohio, has been known as the “Rubber Capital of the World,” reflecting the dominion of the rubber industry in the region’s economy. Primarily linked to the development of the automobile industry, the growth of the rubber industry elevated Akron to a prominent role in the global economy as a manufacturing center for automobile tires and rubber products. Given the centrality of the automobile to the post-World War II economic expansion in the United States, the Akron region enjoyed a relatively prolonged period of economic growth and stability. Beginning in the late 1970s, however, the region’s economy entered a period of wrenching structural change.