Regional economic impact assessment (REIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) are methodologically close, since REIA provides predictions of change in employment both directly and indirectly resulting from a project, thereby giving some indication of future population changes, derived demand for social services and infrastructure, and the likely regional social mix. There are, however, a number of theoretical difficulties with conventional REIAs. As extrapolations they normally avoid discussion of processes of structural change, which could result in substantial changes within the time horizon of a project. Another issue is the justification for including secondary project impacts in assessing a project's worth. While there are some [...]
