Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any questions or comments about our FAQ, please feel free to contact us. In referring to particular entries, it is helpful if you also provide the index numbers. Please note that we will periodically update these pages with new material.
- Introduction to REMI and Policy Insight
- 1.1 What are the available configurations for the REMI model?
- 1.2 How long does it take to build a model?
- 1.3 How is REMI different from other I-O Models?
- 1.4 Where does REMI get the data for Policy Insight®?
- 1.5 Who can I speak with regarding technical problems? Modeling questions? Upcoming seminars? Contract issues?
- Model Concepts and Mechanics
- 2.1 What is Economic Geography?
- 2.2 What is "effective distance"?
- 2.3 How does the I-O Table Work?
- 2.4 How do I work with "linked" policy variables?
- 2.5 What is the composition of REMI's thirteen consumption categories?
- 2.6 How is labor productivity derived in the model?
- 2.7 Which dollar units should I use when I input policy variable values?
- 2.8 When I use a large number of similar policy variables, it's a pain to adjust the units for each individually. Is there a shortcut?
- 2.9 How can I see unrounded numbers in the Results tab?
- 2.10 Why do my forecasted changes in migration look counterintuitive?
- Generic Modeling Issues
- 3.1 What is the difference between firm and industry (sales or employment), and which should I use?
- 3.2 How do I decide whether to use sales variables or demand variables in my simulation?
- 3.3 How can I modify the input coefficients for a particular industry?
- 3.4 Do I need to enter my shock as a policy variable in all years, or just the year when it occurs?
- 3.5 How and when should I use the "Employment Update" feature in new regional baseline controls?
- 3.6 Why does my employment exceed my labor force?
- 3.7 How can I isolate the impact of a production cost change on consumer prices?
- 3.8 How do I simulate investment using the investment spending and capital stock variables?
- Modeling Specific Policies
- 4.1 How can I increase a business tax if I only have an amount and not a "share of tax base"?
- 4.2 How can I model an increase in fuel prices to households?
- 4.3 How can I model an increase in fuel prices to businesses?
- 4.4 How should I model a new or expanded retail establishment?
- 4.5 How should I model an investment tax credit?
- 4.6 How should I simulate a firm's closure or entry?
- 4.7 How should I simulate the closure of a military base?
- 4.8 How can I simulate the immigration of technically-skilled people, or guest workers in specific occupations?
- 4.9 What economic policy variables should I use to simulate a change in tax X?
- Using the Fiscal Module
- Troubleshooting
- 6.1 I am having problems installing Policy Insight.
- 6.2 What are the minimum system requirements for installing and running Policy Insight?
- 6.3 When I try to open REMI, I get a message saying "A security violation ### has occurred. Please contact REMI."
- 6.4 I am having problems saving or opening a workbook.
- 6.5 Can I transfer database or simulation files between different versions of Policy Insight?
- 6.6 Why is my results screen shaded in red?
- 6.7 Why is my results screen shaded in yellow?
- 6.8 Whenever I try running a particular simulation, I get an "out of range" error.
- 6.9 I received an "exception" error message or a Fortran error message.