IMPLAN

Criterion

Explanation

General Description

The IMPLAN model provides a snapshot of a local economy and facilitates the assessment of the economic impact of projects/actions in that economy. To do so, the IMPLAN model estimates the "direct" and "multiplier" effects of economic changes on yearly revenues, employment, and "value added". Here, value-added can be understood as the difference between revenues and the cost of non-labor business expense. Value added is the primary measure of the value of economic activity in a region and includes: compensation for employees as well as income to business and landowners and other businesses and indirect business taxes.

Model Domain

https://www.implan.com

Developer

Minnesota IMPLAN group, Inc. AKA: MIG, Inc.

Hardware computing requirements

Available as desktop application for Windows or online tool.

Code language

FORTRAN

Original application

The USDA Forest Service in the mid-70s developed IMPLAN for community impact analysis. The current IMPLAN input-output database and model is maintained and sold by MIG, Inc.

Public/proprietary and cost

Proprietary (costs vary associated with type of license and whether or not IMPLAN Online or IMPLAN; ranges from $460-$4000 per county)

National Resource Conservation Service has the 2001 and 2007 IMPLAN data for all counties and states.

Physically or empirically based

Empirical

Mathematical methods used

Input-Output Model with regional social accounting matrices (SAMs).

Input data requirements

The economic data for IMPLAN comes from the system of national accounts for the United States based on data collected by the US Department of Commerce, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other federal and state government agencies. Data available from 1996 – present.

Outputs

• Changes in sale to final demand in one or many industries
• Changes in direct income to changes in total income in the local economy
• Changes in value added to specific industries
• Changes to value added in local economy

Pre-processing and post-processing tools

N/A

Representation of uncertainty

None specified.

Prevalence

IMPLAN models are used by a variety of academic, government, as well as corporate actors and agencies. Over 1,500 clients across the country use the IMPLAN model, making the results acceptable in inter-agency analysis. The National Technical Support Centers are supporting usage of IMPLAN throughout NRCS. They have provided IMPLAN training and models to each NRCS state and have available all 50 state and 3,000 country datasets. 

Ease of use for public entities

Requires a knowledge of the programming software but IMPLAN is a modeling system (rather than a set of multipliers that need to be applied manually by user).

Ease of obtaining information and availability of technical support

Developers are able to respond to well formulated questions.

User Guide, conceptual information, and methods available online for users to review. Support website features message board, telephone, and email support contacts. Contracts available with IMPLAN consultants to one-on-one support.

Source code availability

Not freely available.

Status of model development

Mature, IMPLAN Online and IMPLAN Pro available as options.

Challenges for integration

IMPLAN tends to provide upper bound estimates in relation to the annual economic loss from reducing a particular economic activity. Also, because the Delta Region does not correspond to the standard geographic areas available for IMPLAN models, integration will require users to construct an area roughly corresponding to the Delta from zip code areas, which may lead to the model experiencing larger multiplier effects.