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This paper provides an overview of the ocean economy in the EU Outermost Regions (EU ORs). It discusses the opportunities and challenges that the EU ORs are facing in light of emerging global trends, laying out priority actions for making the ocean a factor of competitiveness and internationalisation. Such actions could be taken together with EU and basin-specific partners such as Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The paper is developed within the framework of the EU-OECD project on Global Outermost Regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the authors analysed how the behaviour of people changed in various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and how these changes affected the economic activity in municipalities, taking into consideration significant changes in people's habits and employment conditions. The pandemic coincided with the administrative-territorial reform in Latvia, providing a unique opportunity to test and ascertain in a single research both the above-mentioned changes in the economic activity of inhabitants and the viability of the new administrative-territorial division vis-a-vis the new reality. The developed regional planning methodology based on the mobile phone activity data and socio-economic indicators (set of indicators provided by regional development state institutions) is used to categorize the 43 newly formed municipalities into similar groups. It is concluded that the aggregated indicators have a significant impact on the division of municipalities: inhabitants, dynamics indicator, economic development level, mobile phone activity on workdays, holidays, and weekends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between local banking development and the growth of the manufacturing sector using district-level data from India. The results show that banking development at the local level is important for the growth of manufacturing in the region. We find that sector-specific credit, and not the total credit in the district, has a positive impact on local manufacturing output; suggesting that sector-specific lending technology is important. Further, we find that the constraints due to credit availability for manufacturing are lower in districts with higher literacy levels.

• Previous literature on growth and convergence ignored the role of structural change and of internal and international migration flows during the years of the Italian economic miracle. • Structural change was the most important source of growth in Italy during those years. • The role of structural change was different in Southern and Center-Northern regions. • Internal and international migration neither affected growth, nor convergence. We study the role of structural change on convergence in Italy by investigating the shifting of the labor force from agricultural to the manufacturing, market service, and nonmarket service sectors during the years of the Italian economic miracle. We find that the standard capital deepening mechanism was not the one that worked for convergence, rather it was structural change. Furthermore, we document that such a role was heterogeneous between the Center-Northern and the Southern regions. Finally, notwithstanding the huge internal and international migration flows that occurred during this period, we detect no significant role of migration in the convergence process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of holidays differs significantly across Indian states. Moreover, some of the governing political parties have been accused of using holidays as a tool either to mollify disgruntled workers or to woo voters before the state elections. In this context, this paper explores the relationship between the number of holidays and economic growth across 24 Indian states, spanning the period 2008–2016, by employing a panel model analysis. The paper presents evidence suggesting that holidays seem to affect growth negatively in the rich states but are inconsequential for the growth performance of the poor states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1973, 535 specific claims valued at more than $6 billion have been settled between the Government of Canada and First Nations governments for outstanding treaty obligations. Critics of specific land claims point to the absence of statistical evidence that shows a positive impact on First Nations economies and characterize specific claims as a multi-billion-dollar liability for Canadian taxpayers. This research shows that the economic benefits of specific claims are being lost to First Nations economies through high rates of economic leakage, especially in cases in which large proportions of the settlement funds are disbursed on a per capita basis. Collaborating with the Little Red River Cree Nation (LRRCN) in Alberta (a recent recipient of a $239 million settlement), we use household expenditure data, band-owned businesses' financial statements, and band administration audit reports to estimate their rate of economic leakage and the economic impact of their specific claims settlement. Results indicate that the economic leakage rate for the LRRCN is 83.5 percent. Using household expenditure data and input–output models, we estimate the economic impact of the LRRCN settlement. Assuming a 100 percent per capita disbursal of the funds, the settlement would contribute $275–$339 million in provincial output, $172–$212 million in gross domestic product, and $110–$127 billion in labour income, and it would create 2,393–2,714 full-time jobs. The results of this research may be of value to First Nations leaders in making decisions concerning the distribution and investment of specific claims settlements in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since agriculture is the highly important economic activity in the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to create an environment in which competitive agricultural enterprises will develop. However, regions in the Republic of Serbia considerably differ regarding the intensity of agricultural activity. This paper examines the impact of agricultural enterprises on the region's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in the period between 2010 and 2018. Activity of agricultural enterprises was observed using number of agricultural enterprises, number of employees in them, their turnover and gross value added. Random-Effects GLS regression showed that regions with higher agricultural activity contribute to the lesser extent to the GDP of the country. Research results are robust to changing sampling period and lagging independent variables. In this regard, several proposals have been recommended.

Even though the evolution of regional economic activity is substantially explained by national/common economic shocks, regional economies can still engage in significant differential or divergent behaviours with regard to the national average across business cycles. In this article, we describe a modelling approach based on factor models that estimates differences in quarterly regional GDP levels and allows for the evaluation of the variables that best explain these differentials. To provide an example of the application of this approach, two Spanish regions are used: Andalusia and Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since agriculture is the highly important economic activity in the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to create an environment in which competitive agricultural enterprises will develop. However, regions in the Republic of Serbia considerably differ regarding the intensity of agricultural activity. This paper examines the impact of agricultural enterprises on the regions contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in the period between 2010 and 2018. Activity of agricultural enterprises was observed using number of agricultural enterprises, number of employees in them, their turnover and gross value added. Random-Effects GLS regression showed that regions with higher agricultural activity contribute to the lesser extent to the GDP of the country. Research results are robust to changing sampling period and lagging independent variables. In this regard, several proposals have been recommended.

The object of this research is to describe the impact that ecological regulations and management have on the national competitiveness in the Balkan states. The thesis of the present article is that increasing regulation along with the development of ecological sustainability will lead to higher competitiveness in the Balkan states of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. The effect of basic ecological regulations and management will be shown and analysed both in the region as a whole as well as on a state-by-state basis in terms of national competitiveness, with the correlation between the ecological regulation and competitiveness measured. The time frame reflected is from 2013 to 2017, and a Pearson linear correlation will be applied. In a summary and conclusion, we shall show that regulation plays a prominent role both in reaching ecological sustainability, as well as in the positive development of the Balkan states’ competitiveness.

Today European integration is a strategic course of Ukraine, its speed increases. It obliges to pay attention to the consequences of European integration. European integration, that is, formation and further strengthening of ties with European countries, has a complex nature (economic, political, social, cultural, etc.) at all levels – transnational, interregional, between separate economic entities. The relevance of the article’s topic is determined by objective nature of European integration process in Ukrainian economy and complex nature of consequences of this process. The purpose of the article is the analysis of the influence of European integration process on the economic development of the country on the basis of scenario approach. The presence of essential regional imbalances in the socio-economic development in Ukraine requires differentiated approaches to the elaboration of development measures aimed at promoting the creation of free trade area, as well as strengthening economic and sectoral cooperation between Ukraine and the EU. Thus, there appears a necessity to monitor and evaluate progress of economic reforms in regions of Ukraine in the context of European integration processes in order to reveal strengths and weaknesses, to substantiate priorities and means of their achievement, as well as possibility of their timely adjustment for improving the region’s ability to follow the vector of European integration. For the purpose implementation, it seems most appropriate to calculate an integral value – European Integration Index (Ір). In the most general terms, the index is a relative magnitude, designed to fulfil the role of a generalized measure of a certain phenomenon, which is formed under the influence of heterogeneous components, which cannot be directly summed up. European integration consequences for the economy of Ukraine are considered and it is shown that these consequences can have not only a positive nature in the form of new opportunities and open markets but also pose a threat. Scenarios for changing the national economy of Ukraine as a result of the influence of European integration processes are determined. A description for each of these scenarios is provided. Assessment of such scenarios is done according to criteria of desirability, probability, and time of realization. A relation between the considered scenarios for changing the national economy of Ukraine over the influence of European integration processes taking into account probabilistic cause-and-effect relationships between individual scenarios is shown. Consequences of these scenarios for the economic development of Ukraine are presented. The research result is the detection and characteristic of scenarios of changes in the economy of Ukraine as a result of the influence of European integration processes, as well as the characteristic of the influence of such scenarios on the country’s economic development. Scientific novelty of research results is defining scenarios of changes in Ukrainian economy under the influence of European integration processes, characteristics of these scenarios and relations among them taking into account the influence of such scenarios on the country’s economic security. The practical value of research results is considered a possibility to provide adaptation of regions of Ukraine to the consequences of European integration processes in the economic and legal field.

The aim of this article is to identify an optimal method for estimating gross domestic product at the regional level in Poland, specifically at level of counties. While various studies offer empirical analyses of the country’s economic growth and other economic processes, no official data is available on GDP at the level of counties in Poland. The article presents the results of research based on three alternative approaches that rely on GDP disaggregation from the level of sub-regions (NUTS-3) to the level of counties (NUTS-4). These methods have been validated by comparing the results obtained for the higher level of aggregation. It turned out that the best method of disaggregating GDP was to use the shares of municipality tax revenues from income tax and agricultural tax. The estimated values of GDP in the counties in 2003–2013 were used to calculate the rate of economic growth in the entire period as well as in the period before and after the global economic crisis. We also examined the spatial autocorrelation of GDP per capita in 2013. The time series of GDP at the county level in both constant and current prices generated as a result of the presented research can be used in other empirical analyses.

In this paper, the convergence clustering in 31 Chinese provinces regarding several important economic indicators over the period 1952 to 2016 was empirically investigated. Several provincial clusters were identified in the per capita (real) gross domestic product (GDP), consumption–income ratio, retail price, and consumer price inflation rates, using a club convergence and clustering procedure. The empirical findings are as follows. First, it was found that all series of the original data contain a significant nonlinear component. Second, it was observed that there are five significant clusters for the per capita income in China. Third, it was found that there are four significant clusters for the consumption–income ratio. Fourth, it was observed that there are four significant clusters for the retail inflation rates and two significant clusters for the consumer inflation rates in China. These results will enable local and central planners to implement economic growth, savings and price adjustment policies for different groups of provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses transaction‐based data to provide new insights into the link between the geographic proximity of businesses and associated economic activity. It develops two new measures of, and a set of stylized facts about, the distances between observed transactions between customers and vendors for a research intensive sector. Spending on research inputs is more likely with businesses physically closer to universities than those further away. Firms supplying a university project in one year are more likely to subsequently open an establishment near that university. Vendors who have supplied a project, are subsequently more likely to be a vendor on the same or related project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this research is to describe the impact that ecological regulations and management have on the national competitiveness in the Balkan states. The thesis of the present article is that increasing regulation along with the development of ecological sustainability will lead to higher competitiveness in the Balkan states of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. The effect of basic ecological regulations and management will be shown and analysed both in the region as a whole as well as on a state-by-state basis in terms of national competitiveness, with the correlation between the ecological regulation and competitiveness measured. The time frame reflected is from 2013 to 2017, and a Pearson linear correlation will be applied. In a summary and conclusion, we shall show that regulation plays a prominent role both in reaching ecological sustainability, as well as in the positive development of the Balkan states' competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use Structural VAR analysis to disentangle credit demand and supply shocks and their effect on real economic activity in Italy during the 2008 to 2014 crisis period. The three endogenous variables considered are the loan interest rate, the loans growth rate and the employment to population ratio. The data are observed at annual frequency for each of 103 Italian provinces. The empirical evidence suggests that the variance of the shocks varies across four Italian macro-regions: North, Centre, South and Islands, and hece heteroscedasticity is used to identify (ex ante) the structural shocks. Sign restrictions are used to interpret shocks ex post. The empirical findings suggest a prominent role of credit supply shock in shaping real activity dynamics and also that credit crunch hits the North of Italy less than the remaining macroregions, especially the South of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel deep learning framework where Dynamic Time Warping (DTW), Hierarchical Clustering Analysis (HCA) and long-short term memory (LSTM) are used to predict annual state level per capita Net GDP (NSDP) growth using data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Niti Ayog. The proposed ensemble model framework consists of the following: DTW and HCA are first used to identify similar states based on per capita NSDP growth trends, and similar socio-economic-demographic features within a given state, to construct a fine-tuned training-data set to predict each state's NSDP per capita growth. The saved training data is fed into a deep LSTM neural network for time-series predictions for NSDP per capita growth. Finally, MC dropout technique is used to quantify epistemic uncertainty to go beyond just the prediction point estimate. The developed model can be used to inform policy-makers using a highly accurate method for uncertain-adjusted prediction for regional economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the Valencian Community (Spain) as a case study to analyse, in terms of GDP per person, the convergence of regions of intermediate development with the most advanced ones within the European Union. The obstacles hindering this convergence and the paths the convergence takes are shown not only in the context of a growing interdependence in the world economy but also of European integration. The study clearly demonstrates how convergence only comes about as a result of the creation of employment, while the gap in productivity is getting ever wider. The explanation fundamentally stems from the lack of convergence of the production structure with the more advanced activities which predominate in the most developed regions. With the arrival of the economic crisis from 2007, a reversal has occurred of the process of convergence that had taken place during the previous phase of expansion.

Barro &Sala-i-Martin (1995)growth s model has been a theoretical reference to Latin American studies on regional convergence.This article analyses around twenty research works published about Bolivia,Brazil,Colombia,Chile,Mexico and Peru during the last decade.It evaluates theoretical,methodological and empirical implementation of the model and proposes new researching questions to progress on knowledge s production.

The study evaluates the effectiveness of a major Italian place-based policy (Contratti di Programma), by means of which the state approves and finances investment projects proposed by private firms. Using the areas to be exposed to the same policy at a later date as counterfactuals, the study finds little evidence of it having had a positive effect. It estimates a limited impact on plant and employment growth rates, which is confined to a small area (a single municipality) and likely crowds out the economic growth of the surrounding areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article conducts a plant-level study of the factors affecting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to a large opening economy endowed with specific factor advantages. We conclude that the distribution of FDI in Russian regions depends on market access and can be most notably described by the knowledge-capital framework. Factor endowments built by natural resources are more successful in explaining the location decisions of export-platform affiliates. The impact of natural resources depends on how the availability of these resources is measured. The results reject the crowding out effects of resource FDI and prove co-location mode, when service investments are attracted to resource-rich regions. Labour cost advantages better explain the preferences of non-trading service affiliates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical dynamics of the geographic distribution of economic activity across the eastern United States between 1820 and 2010 are examined using the smallest feasible geographic entities, counties, as units of analysis. The region first experienced increasing spatial concentration of population and manufacturing, with inequality peaking early in the twentieth century. Population and manufacturing have since become more dispersed. Agriculture showed the opposite pattern: initial dispersion followed by increasing concentration. Initially, counties with a high manufacturing density also had a high agricultural density. Eventually, agricultural production moved to outlying areas while manufacturing remained concentrated near where it originated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the quantitative study was to evaluate human capital as an economic development tool in Alabama. The study evaluated relationships between human capital and economic development from 1950-2000 within the context of human capital theory. The research questions addressed the relationship at the county level and were analyzed using cross-sectional longitudinal analyses. Multilevel regressions were used to estimate the relationships at the p < .05 level. Results indicated a significant causal relationship from investment in human capital to economic development. Every one percentage point increase in human capital investment caused an increase of 13,440 jobs per county. Non-rural counties added 34,786 jobs for every one percentage point increase in human capital; rural counties did not gain a significant return on human capital investment. The low populations of the rural counties, coupled with outmigration of educated workers, were likely causes of this outcome. Results demonstrated that the gap between economic development in counties that invest in human capital and those who do not has been widening since 1950 and that human capital was the most significant variable in determining economic development. Increasingly strong correlations between human capital and economic development were found in each decade and were significant at the p < .01 level. The results help policy makers in economic development efforts by quantifying returns to human capital investments. Policy recommendations include increasing human capital investment, promoting in-tact families, and attracting educated workers back to rural counties. Future research recommendations include how family environments contribute to a county's business, labor, and economic landscapes, and how human capital and family social capital interact to improve economic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to assess the potential of the landscape as a factor for regional development. Using the economic base theoretical framework, economic sectors are differentiated according to their alleged sensitivity to amenities. The empirical analysis clusters French counties on the basis of landscape physical attributes and economic sectors, then estimates the amenity-related basic employment multiplier in three study areas located in the Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes regions. Results tend to show that spending behavior is related to landscape type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Regional Science / Revue Canadienne des Sciences Régionales is the property of Canadian Regional Science Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Regional Science / Revue Canadienne des Sciences Régionales is the property of Canadian Regional Science Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

If the primary effect of economic volatility is on consumption—requiring consumers to smooth over the rough spots—recent studies have shown that the business cycle has relatively little effect on consumer welfare. However, the primary effect of volatility may not be on consumption but on investment and productivity. If investors shift their money from volatile cities and times to stable ones, or if productivity depends on predictable demand and a stable workforce, volatility may hinder urban growth. Analysis of annual growth rates in U.S. metropolitan areas shows that short-term volatility reduced growth substantially and that these effects were larger in cities with high long-term volatility. In most metropolitan areas, volatility reduction and growth enhancement efforts would provide roughly equal improvements in consumer utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on development economics which include crude oil price and monetary policy, residential demand for electricity and determinants of economic growth in Pakistan.

In this paper we analyze the Lisbon performance of the countries of the European Union from a long-term, structural perspective. It again turns out that first of all things get worse, before they get better — the old wisdom of classical development economics (Kuznets) and political science modernization theory of the postwar period. In addition, it emerges that foreign savings, "economic freedom", low comparative international price levels, and World Bank type pension reforms are not compatible with a solid and longrun development path, based on our knowledge of 17 component variables, integrating the dimensions growth, environment, human rights, basic human needs satisfaction, and gender equality. In addition, European Union membership (EU-15, "old Europe") has the numerically highest negative effect on the global Lisbon process; while Muslim population shares in no way bloc the development process, on the contrary. Neo-liberal globalization strategies are condemned to failure; while European decision makers in particular would be strongly advised to re-think their Lisbon strategy, which pushes countries towards accepting strategies, which, inter alia, lower instead of increase the comparative international price level. Is a price level of say, the Congo's dimension, really the aim of the Lisbon process? Balassa and Samuelson assumed that rising international price levels for the periphery country are a precondition of positive development. Falling relative price levels would suggest in the neo-classical argument that the price of the nontradables in the European economy decreased dramatically over time. Structuralist economists, like Stanford Professor emeritus Pan Yotopoulos, usually warn the weaker countries of the periphery that:"Currency substitution represents an asymmetric demand from Mexicans to hold dollars as a store of value, a demand that is not reciprocated by Americans holding pesos as a hedge against the devaluation of the dollar!" (Yotopoulos and Sawada, 2005). In addition to the above specified dependency theory and world systems theory arguments, urbanization positively affects Lisbon Process Index Indicator. Ceteris paribus, World Bank pension reforms will be negatively related to the process: Pushing Europe downwards the path of falling comparative prices will only increase the growth impediments of the growingly multicultural Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feldman M. P., Francis J. and Bercovitz, J. (2005) Creating a cluster while building a firm: entrepreneurs and the formation of industrial clusters, Regional Studies 39 , 129-141. The objective of the paper is to provide a theoretical model of cluster development that is informed by an appreciative interpretation of case studies. It argues that entrepreneurs are a critical element in the formation of clusters. Entrepreneurs are important actors in the development of clusters as complex adaptive systems, where the external resources associated with clusters are developed over time. Entrepreneurs who adapt to both constructive crises and new opportunities create the factors and conditions that facilitate their business interests and, in turn, contribute to the development of external resources. The paper examines the initial factors that influence the decision to become an entrepreneur and examine how external factors influence the formation and location of high-technology clusters. Feldman M. P., Francis J. et Bercovitz, J. (2005) L'établissment d'un regroupement au fur et à mesure de la création d'entreprise: les entrepreneurs et l'établissement des regroupements industriels, Regional Studies 39 , 129-141. Cet article cherche à construire un modèle théorique du développement des regroupements guidé par une interprétation sensible des études de cas. On considère que les entrepreneurs constituent un facteur clé dans l'établissement des regroupements. Les entrepreneurs sont des agents importants dans le développement des regroupements en tant que systèmes complexes adaptables, où les ressources externes liées aux regroupements se développent sur le temps. Les entrepreneurs qui s'adaptent et aux crises avantageuses, et aux nouvelles possibilités, créent les facteurs et les conditions qui favorisent leurs affaires et, à leur tour, contribuent au développement des ressources externes. On examine les premiers facteurs qui influencent la décision individuelle de devenir entrepreneur, et on étudie comment les facteurs externes influencent l'établissement et la localisation des regroupements qui sont à la pointe de la technologie. Feldman M. P., Francis J. und Bercovitz, J. (2005) Schaffung eines Clusters in Verbindung mit dem Aufbau einer Firma: Unternehmer und Clusterbildung der Industrie, Regional Studies 39 , 129-141. Dieser Aufsatz beabsichtigt, ein theoretisches Modell einer Clusterentwicklung vorzustellen, das auf einer bewertenden Interpretation von Fallstudien beruht. Es wird die These aufgestellt, daß Unternehmer bei Clusterbildung ein kritisches Element darstellen. Unternehmer sind wichtige Spieler bei der Entwicklung von Clustern als komplexen Mittlersystemen, in denen die externen, mit Clustern in Verbindung stehenden Resourcen erst im Laufe der Zeit entwickelt werden. Unternehmer, die sich sowohl konstruktiven Krisen als auch neu auftauchenden Gelegenheiten anzupassen verstehen, schaffen Faktoren und Voraussetzungen, die ihren Geschäftsinteressen entgegenkommen, und selbst wiederum zur Entwicklung externer Resourcen beitragen. Die Autoren untersuchen die anfänglichen Faktoren, welche die Entscheidung, Unternehmer zu werden, beeinflussen, und inwiefern externe Faktoren Bildung und Standort hochtechnologischer Cluster bestimmen. Feldman M. P., Francis J. y Bercovitz, J. (2005) Crear un cluster mientras se construye una empresa: emprendedores ( entrepreneurs ) y la formación de clusters industriales, Regional Studies 39 , 129-141. El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer un modelo teórico de desarrollo de clusters basado en una interpretación apreciativa de estudios de casos. Sostenemos que los emprendedores son uno de los elementos críticos en el desarrollo de clusters como sistemas de adaptación complejos, donde los recursos externos que se asocian con los clusters se desarrollan a lo largo del tiempo. Los emprendedores, los cuales se adaptan tanto a crisis constructivas como a nuevas oportunidades, crean los factores y las condiciones que facilitan los intereses de sus negocios y, como resultado, contribuyen al desarrollo de los recursos externos. Examinamos los factores que influyen inicialmente en su decisión de convertirse en emprendedores y examinamos de qué forma los factores externos influyen la formación y localización de clusters de alta tecnología. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does money affect productivity? We examine whether bank deposits, a measure of the money supply that excludes currency in circulation, influence labour productivity. Banks deposits are special in that they facilitate transactions and, in aggregate, add liquidity and credit availability to a region. By exploiting the distribution of community bank deposits across the states, we test the hypothesis that money is an input to the production function under a variety of panel data methods. We find evidence that bank transaction deposits and total deposits along with other production function inputs such as wages, labour and gross state product are cointegrated across the states; however, the economic contribution of money to labour productivity appears limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]