a measure of the relative significance of a phenomenon (e.g. employment in software activities) in a region (Redmond) compared with its significance in a larger ("benchmark") region (Washington State or the country as a whole) [see Goodall, p.276; Hayter, p.434] [ Location Quotient Exercise] A high location quotient for a specific activity implies specialization and the export of the goods or services produced by the activity. The viability of the "1" (i.e. the hypothetical location quotient of 1 representing selfsufficiency) as a dividing line between regional specialization (exports) and regional deficiency (imports) depends of the "realism" of the assumptions made: homogeneous production and consumption patterns, no cross-hauling, no national exports or imports, etc. Literature: Hoover, Ch.8, Bendavid-Val, pp.73ff.; Klosterman, pp.128ff.

a measure of relative concentration in an area. Given a local proportion, such as the percentage of total region r employment in industry i (eir), and a reference proportion, such as the share of nationwide employment in industry i (eir), the location quotient (LQir) is eir/ei., more formally: LQir = (eir/å i eir)/( å reir/åå reir) .

A technique for assessing a region's specialization in an industry or some other economic activity. For example, an employment location quotient (LQ) is the ratio of (a) the percentage of regional employment in a particular industry to (b) the comparable percentage in a benchmanrk area such as the nation, state, or geographic region.

a statistical measure of the degree to which any two quantitative characteristics are dissimilarly distributed between any two areas