Commodity Output or Industry Output

Thank you. I appreciate your response. 

When looking at some case studies and examples on IMPLAN website, it appears they bounce between Commodity Output and Industry Output. 

Example:  Module 10 is a tourism study and they use industry output. 

https://support.implan.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047697634-Module-10-Tourism-Survey-Analysis

Yet this article uses commodity for the same type of spending

https://support.implan.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026225673-Surveying-for-Input-Output

Hello Christian!

As noted in the response above(as well as in our support article, Industry vs Commodity Output), it will come down to how detailed the survey data you have is. In the Module 10 example, we didn't know how much each visitor spent on individual Commodities, only a dollar value for average spending within a broad category. So in that example, we build a custom Aggregation Scheme that allowed us to model the average spending through the general categories, with the associated Industries aggregated, which allowed us to apply those dollar values more simply. 

On the other hand, in the Surveying for Input Output article example, we knew exactly what items the visitors were spending their money on. So instead of modeling the per person spending through an Industry (which can produce more than one Commodity), we specified the spending categories as the specific items in a Commodity Output Event. In the case of a Commodity Output Event, those dollar values essentially are split out amongst all of the Industries/Institutions that produce said Commodity(based on Regional Market Shares), and run through as Industry Events accordingly. 

Hope this helps!

Michael Nealy  

Okay, seems like a very thin gray area between the two.  Keep in mind we just acquired IMPLAN and this is my first project using it.

I have festival survey data I'm working with that asked how much each visitor spent at full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, entertainment (concerts, carnival, etc), retail shopping, and a very broad transporation (fuel, uber, etc.) spending.  Based on your answer:

Commodity for full-service and limited-service restaurants because we know what they are spending the money on.

Industry output (or create an aggregate) because don't know details. 

Christian,

Correct - it really come's down to what you as an analyst can assume with the data you have available. I believe the split you have noted would make sense with the given context I have on your data. Also,  additional considerations for Industry Aggregation can be found in our support article - here. 

Best,

Michael Nealy

I created an aggregate for 'entertainment spending'.  Since visitors could go to a concert, performance, carnival, etc.  Before the aggregation I was using "industry output", would I now switch to "commodity output" with aggregation?   Or stick with "industry output" because we still don't know the detailed spending?

Christian,

In your case I would stick with Industry Events, as your new aggregated Industry is the most straightforward approach to capturing the kinds of visitor spending you want to analyze. Also as noted above, Commodity Output Events will essentially be ran as Industry Events through the model.

Best,

Michael Nealy