THE IMPACTS OF U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN TRADE ON THE SOUTHWEST'S ECONOMY AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM: AN ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT METHODOLOGIES

The purpose of this report, the first in a two-report series, is to survey and assess different methodologies applicable to analysis of the impacts of foreign trade between the United States and Latin America on the Southwest region's economy and transportation system. The report reviews current methods used to analyze the economic and transportation impacts of trade. Because there are few methods capable of adequately analyzing regional impacts of corridor-specific trade, the report presents a review of economic impact methodologies that are most relevant to analysis of trade corridors. Since ports are the major gateways for U.S.-Latin American trade, special attention is paid to methodologies addressing port economic impacts, specifically those applied to the U.S. Southwest. As current methodologies are found to be insufficient for capturing the wider impacts of trade on a region's economy, the report advances a method more capable of measuring economic and transportation impacts of trade corridors through case study guided by the emerging concepts of logistics and transport corridors.