The Changing Structure of Local Economies: Implications for Public and Private Investment in Transportation Infrastructure in the Upper Midwest

Abstract

This paper focuses on the changing structure of local economies in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. We include the entire states of Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, as well as Minnesota, in this region.

The study objectives are to (1) document changes in the economic base and related economic activity of individual labor market areas and states in the Upper Midwest, with a focus on transportation system and good producers (2) analyze the inkages between these measures of local economic structure and transportation infrastructure expenditures, and (3) present alternative scenarios of local economic change and their implications for transportation systems policy and planning in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest states.

The method of approach in the study of local economic change is macro-economic in its context but micro-economic in its analysis and application. This application addresses the information requirements of transportation infrastructure planning and policy issues in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest states.