Air Cargo Shipments And Regional Employment: The Northern Nevada Case

Abstract

<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 35.2pt 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;">Air cargo is a critical component for developing an integrated transportation system to facilitate regional economic diversification and growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Additionally, demand for air cargo shipments is affected by regional, national and international economic conditions. To get a better sense on these issues in Northern Nevada, a study was conducted to determine : (1)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>characteristics of business behavior for air cargo and other freight modes at Reno-Tahoe International Airport<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>(2) if<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>employment in Reno MSA, as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>a proxy for regional business<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>activities, has a systematic impact on air cargo shipments at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The first question is examined by conducting interviews and surveys of the firms in Northern Nevada in 2002-2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The second question is evaluated by estimating time-series models using monthly data on employmen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>in Reno MSA and air cargo shipments at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The findings do support the importance of regional economic factors in determining the demand for air cargo shipments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>