Resources
Additional Resources
A curated list, not an exhaustive bibliography. The full back matter ships with the printed edition of the report.
Each entry includes a brief annotation explaining what the source is and why it bears on the dispatch’s argument. Resources are organised thematically and updated as the editorial team encounters new material worth surfacing. The list is meant to be useful, not encyclopedic; expect omissions, and write to the editorial team if a source belongs here that does not.
Category 01
3 resources
Measurement frameworks
The two frameworks the report's figures are traceable to, and the published guidance behind them.
REMI Transight: model documentation
Regional Economic Models, Inc.
Model documentation behind the report's economic figures. Explains the direct, indirect, and induced channels and the counterfactual baseline approach.
(opens in a new tab at www.remi.com)A guide to Social Return on Investment
Social Value International
The canonical SROI guidance the report's social-value calculations follow, including deadweight, attribution, and discounting conventions.
(opens in a new tab at www.socialvalueint.org)The Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government
HM Treasury
Origin of several of the wellbeing valuation proxies adopted in SROI practice. Useful when checking how non-market outcomes get monetised.
(opens in a new tab at www.gov.uk)
Category 02
3 resources
Regional economy and labour
Underlying regional economic data for the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio river valleys.
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Pennsylvania
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
County-level employment and wage series used to calibrate REMI scenarios for Allegheny, Beaver, and Washington counties.
(opens in a new tab at www.bls.gov)GDP by metropolitan area
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Pittsburgh MSA gross regional product series. Establishes the denominator behind the report's economic-share figures.
(opens in a new tab at www.bea.gov)State of the region
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Regional indicators report covering demographics, labour participation, and migration. Useful context for the population-loss narrative.
(opens in a new tab at www.spcregion.org)
Category 03
3 resources
Community-led investment
Practitioner and academic literature on distributed, place-based investment models.
Place-based investment: a primer
Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
Frames the conceptual difference between distributed, place-based portfolios and traditional anchor-led economic development.
(opens in a new tab at www.aspeninstitute.org)Measuring the impact of CDFI investment
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Methodology and findings on how community development financial institutions track outcomes; a parallel reference for distributed-portfolio measurement.
(opens in a new tab at www.lisc.org)What community-led really means
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Practitioner-facing essay on the difference between consultative and community-led investment. Pairs well with the report's distinction between site-led and network-led portfolios.
(opens in a new tab at ssir.org)
Category 04
3 resources
Single-site industrial pattern
Histories and assessments of large-scale industrial bets the region has taken since the 1980s.
Economic impact of the Shell ethane cracker
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Industry-commissioned assessment of the Beaver County cracker. Read alongside independent reviews to triangulate claims about regional economic contribution.
(opens in a new tab at www.alleghenyconference.org)The petrochemical buildout: a regional bet
Ohio River Valley Institute
Independent assessment of the petrochemical corridor's economic and environmental performance against the projections used to justify it.
(opens in a new tab at ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org)And the wolf finally came: the decline of the American steel industry
John P. Hoerr (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Long-form account of the 1980s steel collapse in the Mon Valley. Background reading for the regional pattern the report opens with.
(opens in a new tab at upittpress.org)
Category 06
3 resources
Primary datasets
Public datasets used directly in the analysis, with vintage and access notes.
American Community Survey, 5-year estimates
U.S. Census Bureau
Census-tract-level demographics, income, and housing for the watershed footprint. Vintage 2018-2022 unless otherwise noted.
(opens in a new tab at www.census.gov)Allegheny County property assessment data
Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center
Source for the surrounding-property appreciation figures cited in the real-estate development case studies.
(opens in a new tab at data.wprdc.org)Pennsylvania watershed boundaries
Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA)
Boundary geometry for the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio basins used in the regional maps.
(opens in a new tab at www.pasda.psu.edu)
Category 05
3 resources
Social and environmental value
Methodologies and proxies the SROI calculations rely on for non-market outcomes.
HACT wellbeing valuation: social value bank
HACT
The financial proxies behind the wellbeing components of the SROI ratios. Updated annually; cite the vintage matching the project year.
(opens in a new tab at www.hact.org.uk)BenMAP: environmental benefits mapping and analysis
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Used to value avoided air-quality impacts associated with green-infrastructure projects in the portfolio.
(opens in a new tab at www.epa.gov)412 Food Rescue annual impact
412 Food Rescue
Operating data behind the food-rescue line items in the Millvale Food and Energy Hub social-value calculations.
(opens in a new tab at 412foodrescue.org)