Economic Impact Analysis

What is Economic Impact Analysis?
Economic Impact Analysis is an analytical approach used to assess and quantify the measurable public costs and benefits of a specific project, business or policy. It can be a useful tool for local and regional leaders, providing them important information for better decision-making about their community’s economic future. The Docking Institute economists have analyzed the economic impact of manufacturers, service businesses, hospitals, correctional facilities, public works projects, entertainment facilities, and higher educational institutions, as well as policies related to the regulation of energy and natural resources. The Docking Institute has conducted Economic Impact Analysis for local, regional, and statewide entities.

An Economic Impact Analysis can provide critical information
What will the true benefits be if Company X locates to our community? How many jobs will be created, and what other business activity may develop as a result? What will the impact on personal income, retail sales, and tax collections be? Will the benefits generated justify the incentives and abatements offered? The answers to these and other questions can be estimated with Economic Impact Analysis.

The future economic impact of business relocation or expansion, of infrastructure investment, of investment in plants and equipment, of residential and commercial construction, job creation, and legislative initiatives can all be analyzed, as well as the impact of existing businesses and institutions within a community.

Methodology of Economic Impact Analysis
The Docking Institute’s staff and senior fellows have experience and expertise in economic impact analysis, economic impact modeling, econometric models, and rural economies. The Docking Institute’s methodology for Economic Impact Analysis measures a variety of effects, including:

• Direct effects immediately attributable to the original source of the economic impact
• Indirect effects that emerges indirectly from the original source of the economic impact
• Induced impact, not directly or indirectly resulting from original source of the economic impact, but as a result of behavior induced by the change.

Previous Docking Institute EIA Studies
• Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas Economic Impact Analysis--2000
• The Value of Ogallala Aquifer Water in Southwest Kansas -- 2000
• Goodland Grocery Feasibility Study -- 1999
• Expected Economic Impact of Proposed Improvements to U.S. Highway 183--1999
• Economic Impact of Retail Wheeling on Areas Served by Kansas
• Rural Electric Cooperatives --1997
• Economic Impact of Sternberg Museum -- 1997
• Economic Impact of SEi on Ellis County -- 1996
• Retail Wheeling -- 1996
• Economic Impact of Hays Medical Center -- 1996

Contact Information
For more information on Economic Impact Analysis, or for price quote, contact Mike Walker at mwalker@fhsu.edu.