FAQ

Why can I not Margin Sectors I once was able to apply Margins to?

The only marginable industries are Retail and Wholesale sectors.  You’ll no longer be able to margin non-retail/wholesale industries because the margins that were being used were simply for the industry’s margin on its “primary commodity”. This change is to ensure more accuracy. Now, when the item purchased is known, a Commodity Output Event should be modeled using the purchased item as the Specification and Margins can be applied if appropriate. 

Where Margins can be applied, how do I apply Margins?

The options for applying Margins or not applying Margins are now labeled “Total Revenue” and “Marginal Revenue”, respectively. 

Why are my induced results different in the newest release of IMPLAN?

Seeing differing Induced Effects when comparing the results of the same Impact on the same geography and year of data in the new release of IMPLAN to past versions, is due to methodology improvements to the IMPLAN Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). One of the largest changes we've incorporated is to use gross commuting flows as opposed to net commuting flows. This means for all regions where there is both in-commuters and out-commuters, the In-Commuting Rate will be larger in the current version of IMPLAN (V5), reducing Induced Effects in the Impact Results.

This is because in these cases, total in-commuting dollars is always larger than net in-commuting dollars because net in-commuting dollars = total in-commuting dollars - out-commuting dollars.

Previously, net in-commuting dollars were divided by total Employee Compensation (EC) in the region to calculate an In-Commuting Rate. Now total in-commuting dollars are divided by total EC to generate an In-Commuting Rate. For single-region analysis, the In-Commuting Rate is applied as a reduction, along with the Payroll Tax reduction, to any EC value (in any Event that generates EC to the region) before it is run through the region as Household Income. This reduction represents the assumed leakage from workers in the Study Area leaving the Region to go home, where they spend their money. Multi-Regional Input Output analysis uses commuting data to track where in-commuters live so there is no change to the way MRIO results are calculated.

Some of the other SAM changes could have a positive effect on Induced Effects, so the overall effect won't always be a reduction in Induced Effects.

Other SAM changes include:

Previously, sub-national SAMs consolidated all commuting in the Domestic Trade account. Now, foreign commuting stays in the Foreign Trade account. Some payments to government have been reclassified, e.g., rents and royalties are paid from Other Property Income (OPI) to government, rather than from Taxes on Production and Imports (TOPI) to government, in the new IMPLAN. Such changes serve to align IMPLAN SAMs with the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s (BEA) National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs) and to improve the quality of tax impact results.

How do I import Events from Excel?

The feature to import the Event Template into IMPLAN is outlined in the article Event Template: Importing & Exporting Events. 

How do I search for my Sector using a NAICS code or description?

A new and improved Sector Search feature is coming soon to IMPLAN. Currently you can search for Sectors by NAICS codes and descriptions using this Excel file. 

How do I aggregate Sectors in IMPLAN?

Sector aggregation is coming soon to IMPLAN.

I recently ran an MRIO analysis that is identical to one I have run before. But, this time I got different results. Why?

On 03/27/2019, we deployed a change in IMPLAN which aimed to increase the tool's performance by imposing a less burdensome (but still realistic) assumption on the system with regard to trade between regions. Specifically, we changed the threshold at which an MRIO analysis in IMPLAN considers the dollars of commodities and/or Employee Compensation being traded between regions to be sufficiently small and subsequently stops processing any further rounds of calculations. Explicitly, we changed this threshold from $0.01 (one penny) to $100 (one hundred dollars).

This is to say, for example, that if the effects of trade between Region A and Region B are being calculated, IMPLAN will stop processing calculations once it reaches the point at which less than $100 of commodities and/or Employee Compensation are transferring between them.

However, while this change will improve the tool’s performance, it will also affect the results of most MRIO analyses (though not all). Specifically, it will produce more conservative estimates. In instances in which this change does affect a study’s results, how big will the difference in them be? Well, we ran back-to-back MRIO analyses to find out; one prior to changing the threshold, and one afterwards. We ran two hypothetical 3-region MRIO analyses in which a $10 million change in total Output was modeled. The first analysis (prior to changing the threshold) took 53 minutes to complete, while the second (after having changed the threshold) took 7.2 minutes to complete. Additionally, the difference in results between the first and second analysis equated to < 0.5% (less than one half of one percent).

We recognize that some analysts may still ask, "Well, my Direct Effects are far less than $10 million. Wouldn't the observed change in results be greater in scenarios where Direct Effects (in this case, a change in total Output) are smaller?" Well, we ran back-to-back MRIO analyses to test this as well. We ran two more hypothetical MRIO analyses (with 2 regions this time) in which a $190,000 change in total Output was modeled. In this instance, the difference in results between the first and second analysis equated to approximately 0.5% (again, one half of one percent).

Ultimately, because of the change in threshold, we're seeing significant improvements in IMPLAN's processing ability with only minimal decreases in the precision of results when performing MRIO analyses. That said, every economic impact analysis is different and each of them has a multitude of factors which serve to influence their results. So, if you have specific concerns regarding how this change may affect your own study, feel free to contact your personal Customer Success Manager (if you know who yours is), email us at [e-mail], or call us at [phone].