Measuring Economic Resilience: Business Cycle Analysis Across Maine's Economic Summary Areas

Measuring economic resilience provides critical insights into an economy's capacity to withstand, recover from, and adapt to shocks or disruptions. Yet, little research has been done to quantify economic resilience in Maine. This study employs business cycles as a lens to measure resilience in Maine’s diverse regions. Econometric modeling confirms that sales tax data is a valid variable for measuring business cycles at the ESA level in Maine. Business cycle analysis reveals significant differences in business cycle behavior across ESAs, with no clear relationship to rurality. These findings highlight that shocks and disruptions affect regions in Maine differently. The developed methodology can also serve as a valuable tool for future research, offering critical insights to inform policymaking.