Higher education institutions are assuming an increasingly prominent role in the development of the cities and regions in which they operate. In order to assess the impact of FEUP on the local economy, the Multiplier Method (Fernandes, R., 2007) has been employed. The term “multiplier” is used to quantify the impact of an initial (or direct) cycle of expenditure. This is achieved by incorporating the impacts generated by successive cycles (or indirect and induced) that result from that same expenditure (Robson et al., 1995). This impact can be expressed through a diverse set of measures, with FEUP opting to use the Gross Local Product (GLP), which is similar to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but calculated on a local scale.
With regard to the economic impact, the results presented in the following table demonstrate that the increase in local gross product and available income, which is estimated to have been in the order of 74 and 40 million euros, respectively, indicate that the territories that gained the most from the presence of FEUP were, once again, the municipality of Porto (63% for both indicators) and adjacent municipalities (25% for both indicators). The magnitude of the impact generated in both cases can be explained by two factors: the greater proportion of employees and students who lived there, and the high proportion of expenditure retained in both local economies. However, a considerable proportion of expenditure, namely that which was carried out in the acquisition of goods and services by the university, has been lost abroad.
| FEUP’s economic impact on different territorial scales |
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