In this paper ls presented a stepwise system, In descending order, based on sales, payroll, and employees for mea uring the regional economic Lmpact of aviation-related projects. The procedure Is based on the Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS m developed by the US Department of Commerce. Also presented are 11 brief discussion of the RIMS IT methodology, general Issues associated with aviation-related economic Impact studies, an overview of all major studies using RIMS II multipliers, and recommended procedures for future studies. Every agency, or their lead consultants, that had completed or was conducting a major aviation-related economlc study with RIMS II responded to a questionnaire used to gather Information for this paper. Every respondent reported overall satisfaction with RIMS Il. Input-output analysis Is the preferred technique for evaluating regional econom lc Impacts of business activity. Developmental problems associated with Input-output analysis have been overcome with the development of RIMS II. Since 1983 the RIMS II multiplier methodology bas become the dominant economic Impact methodology for evaluating regional aviation Impacts. In March 1986, 10 major aviation economic studies encompassing 30 primary commercial service and more than 200 general avlatJon airports were under way or completed. Because the application of RIMS II multipliers to the aviation Industry ts so recent, discussion and more precise guidelines on the use of the methodology as applied directly to the aviation Industry are needed.

A wide variety of approaches has been employed to determine regional economic impacts of aviation-related activities. These approaches range from use of generalized economic multiplier nwnbers to input-output analysis. The most highly regarded and technically accurate of these approaches is input-output analysis. For instance, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has stated that" the most reasonable technique (and, according to some authorities the only theoretically valid approach) to derive regional or subregional multipliers appears to be the application of an input-output transaction matrix developed for lhe local economy"(1). The use of input-output analysis for developing local and regional economic impact studies has been retarded by the high costs associated with developing lhe transaction matrix, lhe vast data requirements, and the inappropriateness of using lhe coefficients developed for one region to calculate the impacts of activity in another region (1). However, all of lhcse objections to using inputoutpuc analysis have been overcome with the development of lhe Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) by the Regional Economic Analysis Division of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), US Department of Commerce (2).