Economic Sectors

There are 6 economic 'sectors' in Imperia:

  • Manufacturing - This sector is how materials are produced. This is the only sector that can produce materials. Affects the service sector by creating goods for sale, and uses luxury minerals to improve the quality of these goods. The larger the manufacturing sector on a planet, the more likely it will negatively affect a planet's Bio rating over time. Also, a large manufacturing sector can slowly lower a planet's Strategic Mineral rating over time as it strip-mines a planet dry without finding new deposits! This is a fairly prestigious sector to work in, and generally pays good wages. Efficiency factors: Bio rating, Strategic Mineral rating, Unrest, Tectonic level
  • Agriculture - This sector produces food. This is the only sector that can produce food. Not a glamorous sector to work in, but it is easy to set up and expand, and costs relatively little to maintain. A large agriculture sector can improve a planet's [Bio rating] over time, and adds to the overall 'quality of life' rating that your Pops consider when they are looking for a new planet. Pays poor wages. Efficiency factors: Bio rating, Unrest
  • Science - This sector produces data that is used to research advancements for the Empire. As of .320 the science system is not implemented but science data can be sold for a very profitable sum. The Science sector is very prestigious, and generally pays the highest of any sector. It is the second-most expensive sector to maintain and build, and it generally employs fewer people than any other sector per level. Positively affects Bio rating and are great jobs to offer migrating [Pops]. Efficiency factors: [Bio rating], [Unrest]
  • Government/Infra - This sector is not built directly, but instead grows organically as the planet grows. This sector includes everything from local town governments to the planet-level government. It also includes the police, fire, sanitation, utility, and other infrastructure departments spread out across the planet. Not having this sector filled to the recommended level will result in unrest. [Planetary ADM Points] are generated directly from this sector, depending on what kind of seat the planet is and what [Designation] the planet has. This sector generally pays well and its prestige depends on the planet's political support for you. This sector does not generate income - it always costs money through the government subsidy.
  • Service/Retail - This sector is not built directly, but grows organically as the planet grows. This covers most jobs not covered by the previous 4 sectors, including everything from running gas stations to restaurants to lawn care to shopping. Influenced primarily by the planet's Bio rating and Luxury mineral rating. Goods are manufactured by the manufacturing sector, and their quality is determined by the planet's luxury mineral level (and if they have a starbase which is a trade hub, the quality is determined by the highest planet's luxury mineral level in the trade chain). This sector can generate a lot of income, especially on larger planets, and is determined by the wealth of the other sectors - wages from the other 5 sectors are spent on this sector, determining its profitability.

When calculating retail/service profits, 4 different values are calculated as part of the overall calculation:

  • Profit per item – looks at wages, production sector efficiency, and luxury mineral quality
  • Service budget – how much money people on the planet have to spend on retail items
  • Amount of sales items – determined both by trade and by production capacity. Factors in food and manufactured goods, with a bonus for inherent retail sector capacity (small stores that offer services for money, but not necessarily goods)
  • Service Efficiency – are there enough service workers in the sector to effectively sell all the goods for sale?

From those 4 values, it next determines the maximum amount of the theoretical budget that people will use, based on popular support, unrest, and unemployment. Generally, the better people are feeling about the planet’s situation, the more of their maximum budget they will spend in a given month. What this means in practice is that a planet can have the highest quality goods in the world, but if there are not enough people to either buy them or sell them, your retail sector will suffer. Conversely, you can have all the demand in the world for goods but if your planet can not produce them or ship them in, your stores will be empty. However, if you have both quality goods and the people to buy them, you can make huge profits.

  • Unemployment/Retirement - Not strictly a sector, it is more a classification. Each planet pays a certain subsidy to their unemployed and/or retired population depending on the viceroy in charge. Liberal-traited viceroys may issue a larger subsidy than an economist-traited one. While most people end up here when they move to a new planet, when their sector contracts and they are laid off, or when they quit when they are unhappy (usually because of poor wages), some Pops choose to stay here and live off the subsidy. Retired people draw this pension until they die of old age. Retired people also do not migrate (they're too old for that crap). This sector does not generate income - it always costs money through the unemployment subsidy.
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