In this last section, the objective is to estimate what is the contribution of some primary stakeholders, such as health students and health professionals, to the local economy.
Therefore, first raw data regarding the living cost were gathered as secondary research, then through the primary research explained in the methodology more accurate and first-hand information were gathered via a survey.
Detailed information about the questions of the survey that was performed (in Spanish) for Antofagasta, can be found in the Appendix section 5.A. Only the results and analysis of the data will be explained in this chapter.
The survey was performed to provide detailed information regarding the monthly expenses of these two-sample population, all this information was processed through an economic model that considers the expenses for a time horizon of one entire year given the nature of some particular expenses such as tuition fees. The model was elaborated for the author based in the common living costs and the detailed information for the first part of the model is shown in Figure 24 and gathers the so-called living cost that can be categorized as 'direct expenses'.
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Figure 24 Economic model's structure, direct expenses. Author's Illustration
Complementary to the above structure, a second part of the economic model illustrated in Figure 25 includes other kind of expenses that are not strictly required for living. This category of expenses is related to activities that people perform in their free time or as alternative to common or most cheap option, examples for these cases are; going for a dinner to a restaurant instead of cooking at home or taking a taxi instead of public transport.
Figure 25 Economic model's structure, other expenses. Author's Illustration
To perform a proper evaluation with the most real data from the living costs for the region, the results of the survey were tabulated and compared with several sources such as real state agency, supermarkets, mobile provides, etc. The consolidated data for this exercise and therefore, the final data used to evaluate the economic impact the in local economy of Antofagasta is illustrated in the Figure 26 for students and in the Figure 27 for health
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Figure 26 Average monthly expenses for students, results for Antofagasta. Author's Illustration
Figure 27 Average monthly expenses for health professionals/employees, results for Antofagasta. Author's Illustration
It’s relevant to mention, once again, that the current national currency in Chile is Chilean pesos (CLP) and these values were converted to Euros according to Chilean Central Bank exchange rate of 884,16 CLP/€, value observed on May 31st, 2021.
The results show that, in average, students that currently reside in Antofagasta have a monthly spend of 669 €/month. According to these results it is possible to say:
• 84% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as direct contributions to the local economy. The total flow that students spend per month in direct expenses is 559 €/month, this money remains in the city/region and is earned by the primary stakeholders such as landlords, universities, municipalities, and local shops.
• 12% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as indirect contributions to the local economy. The total flow that students spend per month in indirect expenses is 83 €/month, this money remains in the city/region and is earned by the secondary stakeholders such as fitness clubs, cinemas, galleries, and leisure time providers.
Direct Expenses Other Expenses
Tuition Fee € 133 Gym-Fitness € 25
Public Transport € 17 Food/Restaurant € 29
Rent € 337 Drinks € 15
Supermarket € 72 Other transport (Bike, taxi, gas-etc) € 9
Total direct expenses € 559 Leisure € 5
Mobile pre-paid/plans € 16
Supermarket € 264 Other transport (Bike, taxi, gas-etc) € 57
Total direct expenses € 693 Leisure € 5
Mobile pre-paid/plans € 30
Suscriptions and Others € 18
Total others € 234
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• 4% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as contributions to external economies. The total flow that students spend per month in these expenses is 27
€/month, this money does not remain in the city/region and is earned by multinational that provides mobile services, streaming services, or other subscriptions.
Based on the ‘place builder’ theory, the total population of health-related students in Antofagasta is directly linked to the presence of a hospital in the city. This population was estimated based on the most recent available information from the official data sources of universities and health institutes available in Antofagasta. Considering the Universidad de Antofagasta, Universidad Santo Tomás, Universidad Pedro de Valdivia and AIEP Institute, health related students’ population there’s a total of 2.924 health related students in Antofagasta (Instituto Profesional AIEP, 2020; Universidad de Antofagasta, 2020;
Universidad Pedro de Valdivia, 2019; Universidad Santo Tomás, 2017).
With the above, it is possible estimate a total and partial contribution to the total economy by using both last results of the research i.e., considering the total health related students and their current monthly spends, it feasible to declare the health-related students in Antofagasta contribute an estimated of:
• 2.728.313 €/Year to the economy
• 2.202.153 €/Year as direct contributions to Antofagasta’s economy
• 424.022 €/Year as indirect contributions to Antofagasta’s economy
• 102.138 €/Year as direct contributions to external economies
On the other hand, the health professionals’ expenses reach a total of 927 669 €/month.
From these amounts:
• 75% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as direct contributions to the local economy. The total flow per month in direct expenses is 693 €/month, this money remains in the city/region and is earned by the primary stakeholders such as landlords, municipalities, and local shops.
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• 20% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as indirect contributions to the local economy. The total flow per month in indirect expenses is 187 €/month, almost the double that student currently spend. This money remains in the city/region and is earned by the secondary stakeholders such as fitness clubs, cinemas, galleries, and leisure time providers.
• 5% of the total monthly expenditures can be categorized as contributions to external economies. The total flow spent per month in these expenses is 47 €/month, once again almost the double that students spend in this item. This money does not remain in the city/region and is earned by multinational that provides mobile services, streaming services, or other subscriptions.
Based on the ‘place builder’ theory, the total population health related professional in Antofagasta is directly linked to the presence of a hospital in the region. This population was retrieved report ‘Boletín Estadístico 2018’ (statistical bulletin) made by Fondo Nacional de Salud - FONASA (National Health Fund) that indicates a total of 1.141 health professional currently registered in the region (Fonasa Chile, 2020).
With the above, it is possible estimate a total and partial contribution to the total economy by using both last results of the research i.e., considering the total health related professionals and their current monthly spends, it feasible to declare the health-professionals in Antofagasta contribute an estimated of:
• 1.057.340 €/Year to the economy
• 790.242 €/Year as direct contributions to Antofagasta’s
• 212.947 €/Year as indirect contributions to Antofagasta’s
• 54.151 €/Year as direct contributions to external economies