Economic effects of sewage and wastewater treatment service sector: an inter-industry analysis

Abstract

The economic effects of sewage and wastewater treatment service (SWTS) sector on other sectors have been rarely investigated in the literature. This paper attempts to apply an inter-industry analysis to looking into the economic effects of the SWTS sector. To this end, the most recently published 2012 input-output table is used here. In particular, the SWTS sector is specified as exogeneous to identify the economic effects of the SWTS sector on other sectors. Production-inducing effect, value-added creation effect, and employment-inducing effect are quantified based on demand-driven model. Supply shortage effect and price pervasive effect are also analyzed employing supply-driven model and Leontief price model, respectively. The results show that production-inducing effect and value-added creation effect of a unit of investment or production in SWTS sector are estimated to be 1.7076 and 0.7392, respectively. The employment-inducing effect of one billion of investment or production in the SWTS sector is computed to be 11.0498 persons. The shortage effect of the SWTS sector amounts to 0.8417 won. The overall price effect of the 10% increase in the price of SWTS sector is calculated to be 0.0115%. This quantitative information can be utilized in predicting the economic effects of the SWTS sector-related activities or policy-making.