This dissertation addresses a number of issues on industrial location and relates them to the processes of regional economic change in the United States. The study defines manufacturing change in two growing urban-industrial complexes: Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston over the period 1960-75 as the accumulation of location decisions: in site expansions, new plants, relocations and acquisitions. The locational characteristics of firms making such decisions are examined and an interview survey of a sample of manufacturing plants in the Dallas-Fort I Worth area is carried out. This survey examines the post-decision experiences of new, acquired and branch plants with regard to changes in products and process technology, employment fluctuations and their spatial linkage patterns. Both backward and forward linkage patterns of the sample of firms are analyzed in detail and the defense orientation of some plants enables one to draw inferences about the role of linkage and employment fluctuations in the process of regional change. The spatial growth process of the sample of firms is also explored, with focus on two firm case studies: one growing internally via branch plants and the other externally through acquisitions. The study has implications for assessing the role of manufacturing industry in the process of regional economic change in the Southwestern United States, particularly in relation to the "external control" issue and the realm of regional policy.