Reports

This link opens a spreadsheet of reports produced by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and our predecessaor organizations, the Pennsylvania Economy League - Southeastern PA and the Bureau of Municipal Research. We welcome journalists, researchers, and students to contact us about accessing the materials not yet available online. Please contact Allison Kelsey with inquiries and to make an appointment. ...more

In 2007, the Economy League and Econsult were commissioned by the William Penn Foundation to evaluate the consequences of underfunding SEPTA. Funding solutions were identified and acted upon, but despite achieving its highest ridership levels in 23 years, SEPTA is confronted with a serious funding shortfall, especially for capital funding required to maintain and improve its infrastructure and system. Economy League and Econsult now reexamine SEPTA's role in the Commonwealth's economy and analyze the value of expanded Commonwealth investment in SEPTA. ...more

A new report that shows that expanding Medicaid to low-income Pennsylvanians as part of the Affordable Care Act would increase economic activity in the state and result in fiscal savings, despite state cost increases over time. ...more

This Economy League report details three priority areas central to the next phase of its World Class Greater Philadelphia initiative -- Business Growth, Education and Talent Development, and Infrastructure. Also featured are case studies of regional improvement efforts from across the US.

The priorities emerged from meetings with more than 1,000 leaders from across the region to collectively identify the issues most important to the region's future.

Announced at the World Class Summit in February, the Economy League is partnering with the CEO Council for Growth on boosting business growth, with the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey on improving education and talent development outcomes, and with the Urban Land Institute Philadelphia to make our infrastructure more effective and reliable.  ...more

The Economy League developed the Philadelphia Economic Index, a tool for measuring economic performance in Philadelphia at the request of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. This is the 4th publicly released volume of the Philadelphia Economic Index and covers the period from 2001 through 2010. The Index combines data from 15 individual economic indicators to create a single numerical series useful in evaluating economic trends over time. The components are clustered into four important categories: Employment & Income, Business Activity, Real Estate and Moving People. ...more

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's 2011 Portfolio is the most current information on the health, breadth, and diversity of the region's cultural sector. The Economy League is pleased to have been involved with data gathering and analysis for this report since 2007. ...more

As part of its efforts to increase public safety, reduce recidivism, and decrease public spending on criminal justice functions, the City of Philadelphia has joined a growing number of local and state governments focused on connecting formerly incarcerated individuals with employment. The rationale - backed by an emerging research literature - is that former inmates are less likely to commit crimes causing them to return to prison if they become gainfully employed. In addition to the social benefits to be derived from reduced crime, there are significant positive economic impacts associated with employing the formerly incarcerated, including increased earnings for former inmates, increased tax revenues from employment, and avoided costs in the form of spending on criminal justice agencies.  ...more

To stimulate region-wide discussion about the issues that are most likely to drive our success as a region, World Class Greater Philadelphia created stories describing four very different, but very possible, futures for our dynamic region. These stories examine how national and global forces could influence Greater Philadelphia's future. ...more

At the request of the Metropolitan Caucus, a convening body of elected officials from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties and the City of Philadelphia, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia drafted this report detailing the state revenues generated by the region as well as estimating Southeastern Pennsylvania’s share of Pennsylvania’s total economic activity; and state expenditures in the region. This information is designed to assist the Metropolitan Caucus in understanding the impact of the region on the state’s economy, revenues and spending. Figures are from the 2008-2009 fiscal year and the 2008 calendar year, the most recent periods for which comprehensive data are available. When possible, additional years were analyzed to provide insight into recent trends. Detailed data for additional years are presented in the appendix. ...more

2/21/11 FINAL REPORT & TECHNICAL APPENDICES RELEASED -- Commissioned by the GreenSpace Alliance and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the study quantifies the value of open space in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. The study -- the first of its kind for southeastern Pennsylvania -- examines the economic benefits associated with preserved open space in four key areas: property values, the environment, recreation and health, and jobs and revenue. ...more