Minnesota's Development Region Six East: Its Structure, Changes, and Future Directions

Abstract

Local economies are complex and always changing. Unfortunately, the information available for analyzing a small regional economy is generally quite limited. However, the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota has been compiling data on Development Region Six East for almost five years. Because of several extensive studies using primary data, a fairly complete picture of the region's economy can be drawn. This bulletin includes four major sections. The first is a description of the region's economy for 1972. Second is an analysis of the changes in employment and income between 1960 and 1970. Third, two examples, one in dairy processing and the other in manufacturing, are used to illustrate how export multipliers can trace out the regional economic impacts of changes in an individual firm's level of business. Finally, possible future constraints to growth and development of the region are discussed, with special emphasis on the labor force, transportation, agriculture, and public services.