Proposition for an additional input output multiplier metric to access the value contribution of regional cluster industries

This paper proposes a new multiplier metric to understand the value contribution of industries. We build on the conventional input output employment and income multiplier methods familiar to policy makers and academic research communities to propose a ‘wage premium’ multiplier that facilitates focus on the quality of employment embedded in supply chains. Here, we use the illustrative case of a key Scottish manufacturing Chemicals industry. Crucially, our innovative and benchmarking approach demonstrates the potential vulnerabilities on the value contribution of key industries by identifying the interaction of higher average wages in some supply chain industries and numbers of jobs in others in delivering wage premium outcomes.