Income flows across regions are at the core of important theories in Geography and Regional Science relating to regional capital accumulation and corporate dominance. Major problems with research relating to interregional income flows are the lack of a consistent theory about the nature of flows and the lack of an adequate data base to test hypotheses. The purpose of this project is to investigate income flows across boundaries Transboundary flows of personal income and consumption expenditures include the proceeds from the absentee ownership of capital, commuter salaries, and tourist spending. The investigators will develop a data base on flows of capital-related income across state boundaries by refining and reconciling previously unavailable data from the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of the Census. The data will be used to discern patterns of capital-related income flows across regions. These patterns will be based on the regression of these "transboundary" flows on several important variables thought to explain capital flows. The data will also be used to test a key hypothesis regarding the extent to which economic characteristics of business operations and regional economic structure affect capital accumulation. The study will build a data base on interregional capital flows. It will contribute to regional capital theory, which has long been constrained by lack of capital flow data, and to other research that involves the development of nonsurvey methods for the construction of social accounting matrices at the sub-state level. The study will assess the explanatory value of regional differences in firm size, character of financial institutions, and credit policies in the explanation of these flows. By increasing our understanding of the ways that economic activities expand and contract, local and regional officials will be better able to anticipate and plan for these marked multiplier effects.
