Causality in the air transportation and regional development relation

Aviation is a key factor in the growth process of regional and national economies. Four main economic impacts (Percoco 2010, Button & Yuan 2013): (1) direct/primary (income generated by fixed investments); (2) indirect/secondary (income generated by chain of suppliers); (3) induced/tertiary (income generated by spending of employees generated by direct & indirect); (4) catalytic/perpetuity (driver of productivity growth & attractor of new firms). We can explore different relationships between: national economies (aviation system), major cities (inverse relationship?), regional economies (inverse relationship?), peripheral and remote regions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that air transport improves business operations (rapid access to input supplies, interaction by enabling face-to-face meetings, and provides critical input for ‘‘on-time’’ industries, Baker et al. 2015). However the question is whether aviation a determinant of growth or is growth a determinant of aviation?