Title: A redefinition of economic regions in the U.S
Description: "Since the 1950s the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has grouped the states  into eight regions based primarily on cross-sectional similarities in their  socioeconomic characteristics.  This is the most frequently used grouping of  states in the U.S.  for economic analysis.  Since several recent studies  concentrate on similarities and differences in regional business cycles, this  paper groups states into regions based not on a broad set of socioeconomic  characteristics but on the similarities in their business cycles.  The analysis  makes use of a consistent set of coincident indexes estimated from a Stock and  Watson-type model.  We applied k-means cluster analysis to the cyclical  components of these indexes to group the 48 contiguous states into eight  regions with similar cycles.  Having grouped the states into regions, we  determine the relative strength of cohesion among the states in the various  regions.  Finally, we compare the regions defined in this paper with the BEA  regions"--Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia web site.
Subjects: Business cycles, Regional disparities
Places: United States