Meta-analytic methods for comparative and exploratory policy research: An application to the assessment of regional tourist multipliers

This article addresses the question how meta-analytic methods can be used to draw quantitative economic inferences on case studies (or phenomena) when actual information is scarce. It argues that the recently developed rough set theory may offer an operational contribution to impact assessment on the basis of transferability of research findings from previous case study research findings on similar phenomena. This approach is able to identify band widths of plausible outcomes in light of prior knowledge. This new analysis framework is illustrated by means of an empirical investigation into the size of tourist income multipliers in various tourist areas, with a particular focus on the Greek island Lesvos. (C) 2001 Society for Policy Modeling. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.