Environmental Social Accounting Matrices

Regional economic impacts of biomass district heating in rural New York

“…The Leontief Inverse quantifies the economic interdependencies, linkages, or "ripple effects" of one industry's production on other industries accounts throughout the regional economy [9,37]. These ripple effects are defined as: i) direct effects e the initial impact on industry activity, such as a change in final demand for the output of a given industry and ii) indirect effects e the interindustry activity that occurs as industries increase (or decrease) in order to produce the inputs demanded by the initial industry [9,37]. 2 The two facilities closest to the Tug Hill region, Associated Harvest (Jefferson County) and New England Wood Pellets (Herkimer County) are both outside the three county model region (Oneida, Oswego, and Lewis Counties).…”

“…However, in a holistic perspective of rural economic development, the industries, as well as the households and value added accounts, are of principal interest. The social accounting matrix (SAM) describes the regional economy in terms of links between production, income distribution, and final demand thereby illuminating the socio-economic interdependencies [9,38]. The structure of a regional economy in a SAM is described through the parallel relationship between the rows and columns of the three main accounts: production, income distribution, and final demand.…”

“…where A is the technical coefficients matrix, or the direct requirements matrix; z ij is the input purchased from industry i, by industry j; and x j is the total output of industry j [9,37]. The principal concern is following how the outputs of industries become inputs for other industries which produce goods and services for consumption in final demand [37].…”

“…Rural communities, such as those in the Tug Hill, are supported typically by the relatively low number of industries which are present in the region [7,9]. As a result, industrial changes within rural regions have a relatively stronger economic impact, since there are fewer industries to buffer the change [9].…”

“…As a result, industrial changes within rural regions have a relatively stronger economic impact, since there are fewer industries to buffer the change [9]. Furthermore, the impacts of socio-economic fluctuations are realized more drastically in the Tug Hill, with 15.6% of the residents living in poverty [10].…”