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This paper attempts to identify the factors that influnence the location of large manufacturing industries (LMIs) loeated in regions with different level of industrial development in Iran, to find out if there is a differentiation in the factors influencing the loeational decisions of LMls loeated in regions with different level of indudtrial development, and, finally to investigate the effectiveness of the government polilies in the loeational behavior of LMIs in these regions.
The analysis is based on data from a survey of 263 large manufacturing establishments (LMEs), drawn from the 2520 existing LMEs of the country, using stratified random sampling technique (Neyman's Alloeation Method). A questionnaire was sent to the owner / managers of the selected LMEs. They were
asked to identify the relative importance of factors that had influenced the choice of their current location.
The result of this study shows that the following factors were critieal in the loeational decisions of LMls loeated in industrially active, Semi - active, less - active and least - active regions of the country: easy access to industrial electricity, availability of land for expansion, availability of cheap lands, easy access to sources of energy, economic growth potential of the region, and easy access to sources of raw materials. That the factors influencing the loeational decisions of the LMls loeated in industrially active regions are considerably different from those in the industrially least-active regions. This study also shows that the
government's policy measures (incentive and control measures) were not considered important in the loeational decisions of LMls loeated in industrially active regions, however they were considered important in the loeational decisions of LMIs loeated in industrially least-active regions.