IMPLAN Blog

Recent federal actions targeting Harvard University have sent shockwaves through Greater Boston’s research and education ecosystem. The termination of billions in research funding, the disqualification of the university from future federal grants, and new restrictions on international student enrollment present not just institutional challenges for Harvard, but economic risks for the entire region.

Let’s explore the potential economic consequences of these federal policy shifts, using IMPLAN data and modeling to understand what’s at stake.

While Americans are traveling abroad in record numbers, the United States is facing a concerning decline in international visitors, and the economic consequences could be severe.

According to recent data, inbound international tourism to the U.S. is down 10% year-over-year, with inbound visitors falling 14% in March alone. Meanwhile, Americans are setting new records for overseas travel, with outbound international flights up 1.6% from last March and 22% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. All of this has created a growing imbalance between what international tourists spend in the United States and what Americans are spending abroad.

The American auto industry is facing a fresh wave of layoffs, and the consequences extend well beyond the gates of Mack Trucks, Volvo, and Stellantis.

Mack Trucks has announced plans to cut up to 350 positions at its Lehigh Valley Operations Center in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania. Volvo Trucks is eliminating another 450 jobs across its facilities in Dublin, Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland. Stellantis has confirmed the temporary layoff of 900 employees at its plants in Michigan and Indiana. In total, 1,700 direct jobs are being lost.

At first glance, that number may sound manageable in the context of the national economy. But when it comes to the auto industry, what happens on the assembly line doesn’t stay on the assembly line.

The world runs on data. From streaming movies to managing finances and storing business information, everything relies on digital infrastructure. At the heart of this infrastructure? Data centers.

These high-tech facilities are popping up across the country, not just in big cities. Communities of all sizes are seeing increased interest from companies looking to build or expand data centers. But what does that mean for local economies?

That’s where IMPLAN comes in.

In the realm of economic analysis, understanding the full scope and implications of a firm's activities, an industry's growth, or the repercussions of a significant event is paramount. Economic impact studies serve as invaluable tools for unraveling these complexities, shedding light on the multifaceted effects that reverberate through economies. Today, we’re exploring why leveraging IMPLAN Cloud on a national scale is indispensable for informed decision-making.

IMPLAN is a platform that combines a set of extensive databases, economic factors, multipliers, and demographic statistics with a highly refined, customizable modeling system. The foundation upon which economic impact analyses are built is the input-output (I-O) model. Understanding I-O analysis and the assumptions they employ are crucial to properly performing and reporting your own analysis.

“How can $1 of spending support more than $1 in the local economy?”

We get questions like this about economic impact analyses all the time. The answer is very straightforward. The results of an input-output (I-O) analysis are broken down into direct, indirect, and induced effects. The combination of these overarching economic effects often total greater than the initial economic input. Each level of effects captures a different portion of the complete economic portrait. In order to understand the totality of an impact, you must conceptualize how each value is defined and what they represent.  

The foundation upon which IMPLAN economic impact analyses are built is the input-output (I-O) model, and the basis for I-O models are multipliers. Multipliers are rates of change that describe how a given change in a particular industry generates impacts in the overall economy (e.g. for every dollar spent in the economy an additional $0.25 of economic activity is generated locally, implying a multiplier of 1.25). What multipliers represent and how they are calculated can vary significantly. 

If you’re looking to conduct an economic impact analysis study, chances are someone like you has performed and published something similar using IMPLAN. Conversely, if you’re attempting to study something unlike anything else, between IMPLAN’s data, applications, and knowledgeable customer success and education services teams, you have all the tools you need to get started.

Developed by the United States Forest Service (USFS) in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over 40 years ago, IMPLAN boasts an unrivaled history of economic expertise. The USFS remains an active user of IMPLAN today along with a multitude of local, state, and federal government entities, a broad range of renowned academics, economic development entities, professional associations, consultants, and the United Nations.

IMPLAN is built on many years of economic data – but how can it help when you’re curious about the economic impacts of an industry without a documented history to examine?

Emerging industries, such as legalized cannabis, are reshaping local economies and generating ripple effects that influence job creation, tax revenues, and broader economic landscapes. For policymakers, business leaders, and researchers, understanding these impacts is essential for making informed decisions. IMPLAN, a robust economic impact analysis tool, is particularly suited for analyzing emerging industries due to its flexibility, data granularity, and customization capabilities.

Let’s take a look at how IMPLAN can be employed to measure the economic impacts of new industries.