Center for Economic Research and Quantitative Analysis
The Center for Economic Research and Quantitative Analysis (CERQA) works to quantify economic activities occurring in the region, as well as identify future economic opportunities.
Systematically quantifying the economic activities already occurring in the region can lead to a better understanding of key components in the local economy and how they interact can aid entrepreneurs, policy makers, and everyone in between. Knowing what we have lets us build on our strengths while showing what gaps might be filled.
Economic impact analyses illustrate the broader regional implications of a proposed change. Whether it’s the expansion of an existing economic activity or the introduction of a new kind of industry, changes in the local economy have impacts well beyond the firm or industry where they take place. In addition to the direct impacts, changes in the economy cause indirect impacts to ripple out to related and service industries like a stone thrown into a lake.
Predicting the direct and indirect impacts on employment, wages, and tax revenues make economic impact analyses a useful tool for policy makers, though they might be even more valuable to the private sector. In addition to forecasting future output and earnings of the own or direct impact – which can be utilized to help secure project funding – economic impact studies can be a tool for stakeholder engagement by illustrating the broader indirect impacts. Depending on the scope of the project, direct and indirect impacts can be estimated for any geography in Idaho: a single city or county, a combination of cities and counties, or even the whole state.
The Location Quotient (LQ) analysis project is developing snapshots of key industries for every county in Idaho. Utilizing data from the US Census’ Bureau of Economic Analysis, LQs describe how local area employment by industry compares to the state and nation. To accomplish this, the proportion of local employment in a given industry is compared to proportion of employment in that industry at either the state or national level. These analyses are currently underway and will be publicly available soon. Updated analyses will be posted annually as data becomes available.
As with the Idaho County Location Quotient project, white paper analyses will be freely available to help advance the broader economic interests of the region and state. In this way, CERQA seeks to complement the work of the economic development entities in our area as we continue to improve the lives of all who live here.
Meet the CERQA Director
Dr. Karl Geisler is a Professor of Economics in ISU’s College of Business, Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, and the Director of the Center for Economic Research and Quantitative Analysis. In addition to his academic roles, Dr. Geisler forecasts personal income for the Idaho State Tax Commission and co-chairs the university consensus forecast of tax revenues for the Idaho State Legislature. He also presents the Idaho Economic Outlook every winter at the Idaho Economic Outlook Symposium which will be hosted again on January 23, 2026. See www.isu.edu/cob/ieos/ for more details.