Impact Analysis: Working Landscapes in the Greater Sacramento Region

Project overview:

The Los Angeles office of my organization had been contracted by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Division to conduct an impact analysis of industry sectors in related agriculture and environmental sectors.

The partners co developed an industry definition of nine industry segments for the Working Landscapes and used proprietary software (Emsi) to conduct an economic impact analysis resulting in data on jobs, earnings, establishments, sales income, and export value.

I worked with regional partners and the Los Angeles office to replicate the study in my office’s region. We updated the data and I added analysis comparing the region to the state with a new write up and graphic design.

I present an overview of the report below.

Overview and Methodology

Our technical reports usually include an overview of the study contents and methodology that explicitly outlines how we performed the analysis and research.

We write for a lay audience and a researcher audience. The explanations provide clear, easy-to-understand definitions that help non-economists to understand the data and put it into some context. We also present the method so other researchers can replicate the methodology.

In this case, I briefly explained the meaning of the metrics we analyzed. The appendices contained industry definitions.

Key Findings

For reports of a certain length or substantial complexity, we include a topline summary of findings and recommendations or an executive summary.

Here, I summarized the overall data results for the region as a whole and the industry segments with the largest totals.

The findings showed that the Sacramento region has a special significance in the context of the state in forestry and outdoor recreation.

Impact Metrics: Exports

Basic, export-oriented industries draw wealth from outside the region, resulting in higher earnings for workers in industry businesses and, in turn, higher multiplier effects for suppliers and indirect spending.

We presented data for the region, and the share of state totals for the nine industry segments.

We found the region accounted for 20% of the state’s forestry export value and 41% of the state’s outdoor recreation export value, owing to the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe.