The Economic Contribution of Alabama’s Automotive Industry to Its Regional Economy: Evidence From a Computable General Equilibrium Analysis

This study focuses on quantifying the economic impact of the automotive industry on Alabama’s economy using a static regional computable general equilibrium model. The findings suggest that the automotive industry has a disproportionate impact across Alabama in terms of a series of indicators including gross state product, employment, and household welfare. Benefits accrue primarily to counties in which the auto plants and their suppliers are located. The spillover effects into nonautomotive-plant counties are modest and about evenly distributed. Middle-income households are the largest gainers, and this is true across all counties, including the Black Belt, a region across the South where rural poverty is concentrated. Despite its rapid growth, the auto industry continues to constitute a small fraction of the state’s economy (less than 3% of gross state product). Thus, overdependence on a cyclical industry is as yet not an issue for policy makers.