Regional research and development planning the case of East-Flanders the Economist's contribution

With respect to the forecasts of autonomous employment and production this difficulty was solved. A forecast was made in an early stage and the forecasting procedure checked for its reliability. Before entering the actual planning stage, the time series involved in the model were supplemented with the latest available data and the forecasting formulas reworked. Among such structural changes is the change in labor market from oversupply to shortage, and the forthcoming establishment of a big steel concern (SIDMAR) in the region which will lead to a complete change in the output mix and input structure of industry and to the clustering of industry around one focal point. The above structural changes will influence the parameters of any function in which one of the variables is related to production and income. For example, to measure the spread effect of SIDMAR on the wage level of existing industry, wage levels and sector-by-sector disparities in local wages have been compared with wage levels and differentials in other regions of Belgium where steel is important and where labor shortage exists.