Quantifying Economic Impact: An Art and a Science
Economic models can be very useful in quantifying the impacts or benefits of policy decisions; but it is also critical to consider qualitative influences. At the recent ‘Resourced Regions - Shaping Up or Shipping Out?' economic and regional development conference held in Gladstone, James Matthews, Consultant, SGS Economics & Planning, together with Scott Templeman, (Business Attraction & Support Program Leader Logan Office of Economic Development) discussed using economic information for better decision making and economic management.
James presented ''The science: what do we mean by Economic Impact Modeling?' - explaining economic models on offer, defining common terms, providing project examples of mining expansion and university expansion and drawing some conclusions on relevance for economic development practitioners.
'Resourced Regions - Shaping Up or Shipping Out' was hosted by Local Government Association Queensland (LGAQ) in association with Economic Development Australia (EDA) on May 18 - 20, 2011.
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