Chapter Opening Questions

A business manager, to assess the risk of a regional recession, needs to monitor

  1. The National Economic Cycle

  2. The National Cycle of the most important industries in the state or region

  3. The Internal Growth Cycle also known as, the Regional Economic Cycle of the State

Summary

Although a regional economic cycle is not perfectly synchronized with its national counterpart, it tends to move up and down with the national economy. In addition to the broader national economy, two other factors influence a regional economy: the national cycle of its most important industries and its internal growth cycle associated with construction swings.

There are two different perspectives to consider in analyzing a regional economy: when a company sells into a distinct local market and when a company primarily produces in a local market and sells into a national or global market.

Regional production structure

This section talks about regional products being spatially into other categories. There are three stages in the production structure. The national economy usually has a greater effect on a region than any other possible factor.

Internal regional cycles

The largest driver of internal cycles is population growth. With this, changes in a regions population growth rate can cause economies to accelerate or decelerate.

* What drives long-term regional growth?

Technological progress is the reason for long-term regional growth. Places that have jobs that attract people, the book mentioned Alaska being one of those places. Population flowed into Alaska back in the day when there was good work that needed to get done.

Economic policy

Often ignored when talked about with regional economic cycles. Governors are given the credit for economic recoveries. State and or local economic policy has very little effect in the long run.

* Economic Policy for Growth

A good tax policy. States that have little to no income tax are experiencing. These states have found faster economic growth in comparison to states with high income tax.

Production in a regional economy

Everything affects one another in short summary. An example being, a business selling goods in a particular region will suffer when the area goes into a recession. Another example from the book is regional producers benefit from weak local conditions, and they are hurt by local economic strength.

A regional early warning system

Measures of the industries that are important to the region is crucial data. Must stay alert and keep an eye on that.

indicators
national economy
national cycles of the industry national automobile sales for car dealers
local economy
  1. nonfarm payroll employment available for states, metropolitan areas, and counties,
  2. personal income is more appropriate for historical research for its time lag and frequent and radical revisions,
  3. state income tax, especially withholding
population and migration housing permits, drivers licenses
consumer spending state sales tax: drill down to exclude construction materials

Managing in the regional business cycle

Dealing with a regional downturn

the local economy is similar to the national economy the local economy is different from the national economy
a company selling into the local market Follow the pattern described in chapter 7 with no additional local considerations.
  • Sell outside the region
a company only producing in the local market Follow the pattern described in chapter 7 with no additional local considerations.
  • Lock in long-term lease rates

  • Buy the real estate the company has been leasing

  • Enter into long-term contracts with local vendors

Economic terms

Explain each of the following terms in your own words. The author explains the terms in the textbook. If necessary, you may also Google the term on the Web. Good resources include:

Explain the terms in your own words briefly.

Location Quotient (page 205)

A measure that shows the significance of an industry to a state or metropolitan area relative to the industry’s importance

Leakages (page 212)

A diversion fund from some kind of iterative process

Marginal Cost (page 219)

It is a cost that is added by producing an additional unit of a product or service

Economic events

Describe the characteristics of the following events briefly

the case of Idaho in 1986 (page 211)

Population growth slowed in the 80s and this is visibly noticeable when looking at construction activity

the case of Hawaii in the mid-1990s (page 215)

Hawaii suffered from 4 years of declining employment in the mid 90s. The ironic part is that the national economy grew steadily during this time. Japan was going through a recession during this time and it affected tourist spending in Hawaii.