Economic Effects of Immigration Policies: A 50-State Analysis

To help inform the discussion on how to reform the United States’ immigration system to establish economic vibrancy for all Americans, Business Roundtable commissioned an economic modeling analysis by Regional Economic Models, Inc. REMI was tasked with the quantification of the national- and state-level economic effects that would be generated by two potential immigration reform scenarios: a balanced approach that addresses the current system’s flaws from top to bottom and a narrower approach focused on border security and internal enforcement only. Under a balanced reform approach, the REMI model found that GDP would grow by 3.9 percent, inflation-adjusted incomes for all Americans would increase by 2.3 percent, and 8.4 million jobs would be created over a 10-year period. The REMI model also analyzed the narrower approach and discovered it would decrease inflation-adjusted incomes by 1.3 percent, eliminate 6.9 million jobs, and reduce U.S. growth by 3 percent relative to the baseline over the same time frame.

Business Roundtable – Economic Effects of Immigration Policies: A 50-State Analysis [full PDF]

Employment Impacts of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies

This report by Argonne National Laboratory that updated and expanded upon the 2008 Department of Energy Report to Congress, Effects of a Transition to a Hydrogen Economy on Employment in the United States, incorporated the REMI Policy Insight model in order to permit detailed analysis for five regions in Fiscal Year 2016. The model assisted with summarizing baseline trends in regional employment, compiling wages for relevant industries and occupations, and comparing existing forecasts of market growth and hydrogen and fuel cell penetration in select applications. Researchers found that Fiscal Year 2016 revolved around the search for the appropriate software to model hydrogen fuel cell technologies and the initiation of the largest hydrogen and fuel cell application considered in this analysis, particularly the estimation of industry cost vectors for the light-duty vehicle supply chain. A similar effort to estimate industry vectors for applications like material handling equipment, backup power, and prime power started in Fiscal Year 2017.

Argonne National Labs – Employment Impacts of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies [full PDF]

The National-Level Economic Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): Estimates for Fiscal Year 2017

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) contracted with the Upjohn Institute to perform an analysis of the total effect of MEP projects on the U.S. economy. To help improve competitiveness and productivity, MEP centers provide assistance and support to primarily small- and medium-size manufacturing businesses. This study used the REMI model to estimate the indirect and induced effects of the reported increase in jobs, sales, cost savings, and investments by MEP clients. Three scenarios were implemented in this study and the estimates were based on a survey that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) MEP administers to their clients.

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research – The National-Level Economic Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): Estimates for Fiscal Year 2017 [full PDF]

Macroeconomic Impacts of Rhode Island Energy Efficiency Investments

National Grid’s 2014 Energy Efficiency Program Plan for Rhode Island was analyzed in this report in order to quantify its macroeconomic impacts. This study also provides updated economic impact multipliers that enable the quantification of the benefits of future energy efficiency program in the Rhode Island economy. Under the 2014 Plan, National Grid and its customers would invest $112.5 million toward energy efficiency electric and gas measures in Rhode Island. Analysts used the REMI model to estimate the economic impacts associated with the increased economic activity, incomes, and employment in the state that would be generated by the energy efficiency programs included in the Plan. The assessment involved two scenarios to be entered into the model, simulated, and compared against one another: a base case with no energy efficiency program spending and a case with the spending patterns outlined in the 2014 Energy Efficiency Program Plan in Rhode Island.

National Grid – Macroeconomic Impacts of Rhode Island Energy Efficiency Investments: REMI Analysis of National Grid’s Energy Efficiency Programs [full PDF]

The Economic Impact of RhodeWorks: An Accelerated Transportation Restoration Plan

REMI was engaged by the Rhode Island Department of Revenue’s Office of Revenue Analysis on behalf of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to analyze and model the economic and demographic effects of the RhodeWorks transportation infrastructure improvement and restoration plan. Rhode Island’s transportation infrastructure had reached a point of dilapidation where if many of the failing bridges were not repaired in the short term, the costs of bridge improvements will grow as a state will soon be required to replace, instead of restore, its transportation infrastructure. The assessment included the economic and demographic impacts over an 11-year time period associated with: 1) the construction of transportation infrastructure capital improvements; 2) project financing options; 3) avoided costs of bridge closings and postings to the state; and 4) benefit programs to support the trucking industry included in the RhodeWorks proposal. All eight modeled scenarios displayed an increase in all the economic measures tracked for this analysis.

Regional Economic Models, Inc. – The Economic Impact of RhodeWorks: An Accelerated Transportation Restoration Plan [full PDF]