Methods for calculating regional industry impact multipliers [Includes agriculture services, textiles and apparel, food and kindred products, paper products, lumber and furniture products, and farm machinery]

Regional input-output (I-O) models allow analysts to evaluate the multiplier effect of industry changes in a region, such as new construction. Two techniques have been developed to accomplish this without having to gather large amounts of data, as had been the case with previous models. The first is the simple location quotient (SLQ) technique which adapts average national values, instead of survey values, to regional I-O models.The second is the regional industrial multiplier system (RIMS) which bases the total multiplier on estimates and data for several key characteristics. This system is capable of defining the impact on aggregate terms. Both of these techniques were tested against actual survey data. It was found that the RIMS procedure produced better results than the SLQ procedure. The results of the RIMS procedure did differ somewhat from the actual survey, however, the results did provide a reasonable approximation.