Tennessee Agriculture and Forestry Industry Clusters and Economic Performance, 2001-2006

Industry cluster identification methods determine linkages between purchasers and suppliers at the county level for 447 economic sectors in Tennessee. Using an econometric model, the cluster analysis is extended to estimate which value chains contributed to economic growth between 2001 and 2006. Businesses making up the agriculture and forestry clusters enjoyed increased output per job in 34% and 32%, respectively, of Tennessee’s counties. The spatial pattern of these findings was significant, suggesting that some counties may benefit from regional coordination of projects designed to enhance or retain businesses in these industry clusters.