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It has been suggested that provincial and national multipliers may provide incorrect estimates of the economic impacts when examining distinct communities. Using data collected from a comprehensive survey of household spending on two First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada, we use Input-Output models to refine regional multipliers for these distinct populations. We also estimate the rate of economic leakage and the economic impacts of First Nation spending. Results indicate that economic leakage rates for First Nation economies is roughly 90 percent; meaning that 90 cents of every dollar spent by First Nations for goods and services occurs off-reserve. Using our new multipliers, we find that First Nation spending contributes over $741 million to Saskatchewan's GDP, creates approximately 11,244 full-time jobs, and leads to an estimated increase of over $462 million in labor force income for the province. If policy makers intend to build on-reserve economies, strategies must be found to recapture off-reserve spending by providing comparable on-reserve goods and services. In the absence of on-reserve economic development, First Nation economic growth will likely remain stagnant with few wealth generating opportunities and lower standards of living for First Nation members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success or failure of economic actors depends on a variety of factors, which I sort into three groups: attitudes and values, endowments, and rules. Of these three, we only fully control for factors in the first group. Factors in the other two groups are determined by luck, though through individual effort we may enhance them, particularly endowments such as talent or inherited resources. As individuals, most of us have no or very little influence on rules. Rules depend on power, and most people exercise power only indirectly as members of a group or groups. In this address, I focus on the rules, which also means that I focus on power, a neglected topic in economic development, and in modern economics in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of regional economic impacts can be accomplished using either an input-output analysis or a social accounting matrix (SAM) analysis. While these approaches can generate important insights, they have significant limitations for some cases, e.g., the event of the need to reallocate limited resources such as land, labor, etc., because they do not include a complete set of decision makers' activities and managerial options. This study develops a flexible approach to link the firm level linear programming model to regional economic models to overcome these limitations, a LP-SAM. To demonstrate the LP-SAM a ranch-level economic model is linked to the regional SAM to investigate the impact of wildfire on the southeastern Oregon. The LP-SAM successfully traces out the decision makers' responses to wildfire and also regional economic impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the variations in regional economic growth within 26 countries relative to the OECD norm between 1998 and 2003. This analysis sheds light on the role of regions in determining national growth patterns, while also providing a method similar to shift-share that can assess the relative importance of a range of demographic and economic factors in driving such growth. In particular, this taxonomy isolates those growth factors involving region-specific assets that are potentially most influenced by policy. In this sense, the findings help highlight policy niches that can most effectively shape regional growth prospects while also challenging traditional views of regional growth drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many argue that tourism development is beneficial for local economies, partly because of spillover effects. Others hold that tourism jobs are lower paying, often seasonal, and can generate a host of social ills with earned income concentrated in low-income households. A Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of a Pennsylvania region is used to test the impacts of tourism businesses supported by the Progress Fund, a regional Community Development Financial Institution, on household income distribution by incorporating secondary and primary employment based income. Analysis indicates that tourism-oriented activity has relatively large contributions to lower and upper as opposed to middle income households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]