INTRODUCTION
IMPLAN is an annual, linear model. This means that analyzing $100 would yield the same Results as analyzing $1 and multiplying the results by 100 in a single Region analysis. The scaling feature in IMPLAN allows users to set up Events and then adjust all the Events by this figure.
Scaling does not need to be done in whole numbers only. Scaling can also be done with up to 2 decimal places. For example, you are able to scale with numbers such as 0.55 or 100.78.
SCALING GROUPS
Scaling is especially fun when looking at a group of Events for a tourism impact. When analyzing tourism impacts, we have a list of expenditures usually by individual visitors. We can set this up as shown with one Event for each affected Industry. In this example, we are examining a basic visitor spending for a weekend with the Idaho Falls Chukars. We know that each visitor spends approximately $2,000 on a weekend trip across six spending categories.
If we are told there were 5,000 visitors, we could just multiply each Value by 5,000. However, we can also use scaling to tell IMPLAN to multiply each value by 5,000. After Events have been assigned to a Group, Unlock the Group Scale feature and type 5,000. This will multiply each Event in the Group by 5,000.
Our Results will show the impacts of $2,000 total spending for each of the 5,000 guests. Our Direct Output is therefore just shy of the $10M in total spending, due to the fact that we used one retail Industry to which margins were applied. For more information on this, check out the articles Margins & Deflators and Why don't my Direct Effects match my Direct inputs?
While there are several reasons that these numbers won’t match, we have added a new tile to the Results Overview dashboard showing where some of those dollars leaked out.
SCALING EVENTS
Perhaps we are told that only 3,000 of the total 5,000 attendees used hotel rooms, transit, and airfare. We can scale each Event individually to reflect this new information. Ensure that the scaling on the entire Group is 1, then Unlock each Event’s Scale feature.
Now you can edit each Event. In our example, we enter 3,000 for Hotel, Transit, and Airfare, and 5,000 for Restaurant, Retail, and Sports. This tells IMPLAN to multiply the first three Events by 3,000 and the last three Events by 5,000.
We would expect a Direct Output of slightly less than $8.4M input values, which is confirmed in our Results.
RELATED ARTICLES
Why don't my Direct Effects match my Direct inputs?
Written August 30, 2023