REGIONAL ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE - AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

Decision makers who choose policy affecting future economic performanc e are often confronted with two types of information intended to aid t he decision process. The first type of information, from input-output analysis, is usually presented in the form of industry multipliers aim ed at measuring the economic impact of one sector relative to another and thus determining a ranking of industries. The second form of infor mation is derived from time-series analysis and used to predict future economic performance. Here, forecasted growth rates of industrial out put are compared, thus allowing another form of ranking. We propose th at although this information is beneficial to the economic planner, it creates controversial and inconsistent rankings of industries. Instea d, we present an integrated method of analysing economic performance w hich, through the use of a combined econometric input-output model, ex amines the interactions between industry multipliers and output growth rates over time.