Journal Article

The interest rate sensitivity of Texas industry

Abstract: A key factor in forecasting a region's growth is anticipating how a region will respond to changes in national policy. One important way national policy affects a region is through real interest rates. Forecasting regional growth, therefore, requires good estimates of the interest rate sensitivity of regional industries. In this study, Lori Taylor and Mine Yucel use vector autoregression analysis to examine the relationship between changes in real short-term interest rates and changes in Texas industry employment. They find that while a few industries are moderately sensitive to interest rate movements, most Texas industries are insensitive to changes in real interest rates. Moreover, they find that Texas total nonagricultural employment is insensitive to changes in real interest rates. As such, their analysis suggests that real interest rate movements influence the composition of Texas employment rather than its level.

Keywords: Interest rates; Texas;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Part of Series: Economic and Financial Policy Review

Publication Date: 1996

Issue: Q II

Pages: 27-33