Spatial Variability of Economic Impacts: Examining a Hypothetical Retiree In-migration Policy

Abstract. This study estimates the economic impacts of a hypothetical retiree in-migration scena-rio involving elderly households and examines the effect of aggregation of study regions in an input-output framework on their regional purchase coefficients, and multipliers. Using migra-tion estimates to three Arkansas counties based on income types, it was observed that the more affluent retirees tend to relocate to counties with more amenities and a higher standard of living. Findings suggest that the economically large counties with diversified industry have greater economic impacts not just as a result of higher retiree spending owing to in-migration of high-income retirees, but also due to more opportunities to purchase goods and services from local establishments, leading to higher output, employment and value-added multip-liers. Further, it was observed that the aggregation of study regions in an input-output framework results in significant variation in economic impact results compared to the non-aggregated stand-alone models