Community input-output models for rural area analysis with an example from central Idaho

In this paper we outline an I-O modeling approach tailored to the needs of rural area analysis. We cover four essential features. First, the rural area I-O model must convey an individual community focus. Second, the household sector must be defined in a manner that specifically captures the great openness of rural community economies. Third, the model should offer a degree of closure that provides an assessment of the community economic base. And finally, the rural community I-O model must be defined to include estimates of intercommunity trade, and intercommunity multiplier effects. Having laid the theoretical foundations, we identify subcounty data sources, and describe a collection of nonsurvey and hybrid approaches for estimating model components. The community I-O approach is illustrated next, with an empirical example from central Idaho. The paper closes with a discussion that considers the implications of community I-O in other contexts, including I-O analysis in less developed countries, and in addressing modeling issues in larger nonrural regions. Received: 7 March 1996 / Accepted in revised form: 26 February 1997