Harvey A. Goldstein

Assessing the Regional Economic Development Impacts of Universities: A Review of Current Approaches

Research universities in the United States have increasingly become involved in economic development since the mid-1980s. There has been a corresponding growth of interest in measuring the impacts of higher education on regional economies. This article reviews the approaches used to examine the influence of research universities on regional economic development outcomes. Considerable attention is paid to the methodological advantages and shortcomings of four major research designs evidenced in the literature: single-university impact studies, surveys, knowledge production functions, and cross-sectional and quasiexperimental designs. University activities, particularly knowledge-based activities such as teaching and basic research, have been found to have substantial positive effects on a variety of measures of regional economic progress.

Contributions of Universities to Regional Economic Development: A Quasi-experimental Approach

Goldstein H. A. and Renault C. S. (2004) Contributions of universities to regional economic development: a quasi-experimental approach, Regional Studies38, 733-746. Universities potentially contribute to regional economic development in a number of ways: research, creation of human capital through teaching, technology development and transfer, and co-production of a favourable milieu. We find that the research and technology creation functions generate significant knowledge spillovers that result in enhanced regional economic development that otherwise would not occur. Yet, the magnitude of the contribution that universities research and technology development activities play is small compared with other factors. We use a quasi-experimental approach to explain variation in change in average earnings per job across 312 metropolitan statistical areas in the USA in 1969-86 and 1986-98. Goldstein H. A. et Renault C. S. (2004) La contribution des universités au développement économique régional: une façon quasi-expérimentale, Regional Studies38, 733- 746. Potentiellement, les universités contribuent de plusieurs façons au développement économique régional: à savoir, la recherche, la création du capital humain à travers lenseignement, le développement et le transfert de la technologie, et la coproduction dun milieu propice. Il savère que les fonctions recherche et technologie engendrent dimportantes retombées de connaissances qui permettent un développement économique régional accru qui naurait pas vu le jour dans dautres circonstances. Toujours est-il que la contribution des actions des universités dans les domaines de la recherche et de la technologie savère peu importante par rapport à celle des autres facteurs. Une façon quasi-expérimentale sert à expliquer la variation des gains moyens par emploi à travers 312 MSA aux Etats-Unis de 1969 à 1986 et de 1986 à 1998. Goldstein H. A. und Renault C. S. (2004) Beiträge der Universitäten zur regionalwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung: ein quasi experimentaler Ansatz, Regional Studies38, 733- 746. Universitäten tragen potentiell auf mancherlei Art und Weise zur regionalwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung bei: durch Forschung, Schaffung von Menschenkapital mittels Unterricht, Entwicklung und Übertragung von Technologie, sowie Miterzeugung eines gÜnstigen Milieus. Es wird festgestellt, daß Schaffensfunktionen von Forschung und Technologie signifikante WissensÜberschÜsse erzeugen, die sich in qualitativ verbesserter regionalwirtschaftlicher Entwicklung niederschlagen, die sonst nicht stattfinden wÜrde. Doch der Umfang der von Universitäten geleisteten Tätigkeit auf den Gebieten der Forschungs-und Technologieentwicklung ist im Vergleich mit anderen Faktoren nur gering. Es wird ein quasi experimenteller Ansatz dazu benutzt, Abweichungen bei Veränderungen durchschnittlicher Einkommen pro Erwerbstätigkeit in 312 MSAs der Vereinigten Staaten in den Perioden 1969-86 und 1986-98 zu erläutern. Goldstein H. A. y Renault C. S. (2004) Las contribuciones de las universidades al desarrollo económico regional: un enfoque cuasi-experimental, Regional Studies38, 733-746. Las universidades contribuyen potencialmente al desarrollo económico regional de varias formas: investigación, creación de capital humano por medio de la enseñanza, desarrollo y transferencia de tecnología, y co-producción de un entorno favorable. Encontramos que las funciones de investigación y de creación de tecnología generan desbordamientos de conocimiento significativos que resultan en una mejora del desarrollo económico regional, que de lo contrario no ocurriría. Aún así, la magnitud de la contribución que desempeñan las actividades de investigación y de desarrollo de tecnología es pequeña en comparación a otros factores. Nosotros utilizamos un enfoque cuasi-experimental para explicar las variaciones que se producen en el promedio de ingresos por empleo a través de 312 MSAs en los Estados Unidos en los periodos comprendidos entre 1969-86 y 1986-98.

The Economic Development Impacts of Universities on Regions: Do Size and Distance Matter?

As American colleges and universities have increasingly become involved in economic development since the mid-1980s, there has been a concomitant growth of interest in measuring the impacts of higher education on regional economies. This study examines the influences of 4-year colleges and universities in the United States at the metropolitan level, focusing on the internal and external factors that affect the generation of regional economic development impacts, the spatial extent of the impacts, and separating the effects of different university functions. Knowledge-based university activities, particularly teaching and basic research, are found to have substantial positive effects on regional earnings gains. The greatest impacts occur in small- and medium-sized regions, suggesting that universities may be able to act as a substitute for agglomeration economies. Spatial spillovers across regions are influential as well, indicating a relatively flat spatial gradient of university impacts that stretches to neighboring regions.

Which indicators explain metropolitan economic performance best? Traditional or creative class.

Problem: As Richard Floridas writings about the creative class garnered attention across the globe, planners and local government officials responded by enacting policies to attract and retain creative workers, often favoring spending for amenity and lifestyle attractions over more established economic development approaches. It is not clear, however, if the presence of these workers drives regional growth and development as effectively as more traditionally accepted place-based and institutional factors. Purpose: In this article we explore the relationships between the presence of the creative class and regional economic performance, contrasting measures of regional creative capacity with traditional competitiveness factors. Methods: We examine how Floridas creative class measures correlate with each other and with common indicators of economic performance for U.S. metropolitan areas. We also estimate multivariate regression models to compare the influence of Floridas measures to those of more traditional indicators of economic competitiveness on metropolitan job growth, income growth, and job instability. Results and conclusions: We find that differences in Floridas measures of creativity are not generally associated with differences in metropolitan economic performance. Indicators of human capital and industry composition perform as well or better than talent, tolerance, and technology in explaining metropolitan job and income growth and job instability. Takeaway for practice: Since we find measures derived from Floridas creative class hypotheses to be no more associated with positive economic outcomes than traditional competitiveness measures, we do not advocate replacing traditional economic development strategies with those based primarily on attracting the creative class. Programs supporting education, business creation, and industrial diversity are more likely to be effective tools for promoting economic well-being. Research support: We received support from the Center for the Study of the American South and the Office of Economic and Business Developments Program on Southern Politics, Media, and Public Life, both of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Science/Technology Parks and Regional Development Theory:

Science/technology (or research) parks have become a prominent element in regional development strategies. Most existing studies of these parks are anecdotal, or focus on parks as real estate ventures only. No study we have seen attempts to analyze the types of regional development outcomes we can expect from science/technology parks and how and why those outcomes might vary. These are important for planners and policymakers to know so they can decide whether science/technology parks can be effective in restructuring regional economies. In this article, we address these issues by drawing on the regional development theory literature. We discuss the outcomes predicted by that literature, critically review those predictions or hypotheses, and provide some insights about their applicability in the U.S. context. Specifically, we review different theories that can be used as ex post rationales for science/technology park development, and critically assess each as explanations of science/technology park development; focus on the particular hypotheses suggested by theory that relate variations in regional development impacts to different input elements of science/technology parks; and place science/technology park development within the broader scope of regional development and technology policy.

An Experiment in the Internationalization of Planning Education The NEURUS Program

This article describes a new multi-institutional program in international planning education and exchange—the Network for European-U.S. Regional and Urban Studies—within the broader context of the continuing internationalization of graduate-level professional planning curricula. Using student exit interviews and an institutional survey, the outcomes and impacts of this program on participating students, on the departments involved, and on the partner universities are assessed. Program experiences to date in terms of lessons for planning education in an increasingly integrated world economy are highlighted.

Federal labor protetons and the privatization of public transit

Federal transportation officials assert that labor protections in the Urban Mass Transportation Act inhibit the propensity of local transit agencies to contract with private firms for services. The authors present results from a survey of a large sample of transit managers and econometric analysis to support their conclusion that labor protections do not appear to reduce the incidence of contracting. The labor protections, however, may be costly to transit management in other ways. The authors recommend actions, aside from repeal of labor protections, to increase contracting by local transit agencies.

A Practitioner's Guide to State and Substate Industry Employment Projections

There are a number of alternative techniques for developing regional industry employment projections. Selecting the most appropriate technique involves trade-offs among cost, data requirements, comprehensibility, versatility, theoretical validity, reliability, and accuracy. Single-equation regression models represent a best-buy alternative for many types of economic development agencies and their information needs. The adjustment of projections that emerge from a projection model based upon analysts informal knowledge of the behavior and performance of the regional economy, is a critical step in assuring accurate projections, no matter what type of model is chosen