Kevin Stolarick

Creativity, connections and innovation: a study of linkages in the Montreal Region

The importance of creativity as a driving force in regional economic growth and prosperity has been previously documented; however, the mechanisms of this relationship are less well understood. Earlier research suggests, but does not demonstrate, that high levels of density and creative-class employment create conditions under which innovations generated by the interactions between individuals are more likely to occur. The authors examine the specific interactions among the creative, technical, business, and design communities of the Montréal region. It is demonstrated that such connections are possible and can have a positive impact on the innovative and total business activity across the region. A set of mechanisms through which creativity helps to achieve regional growth and prosperity benefits is demonstrated through specific examples.

Density and Creativity in U.S. Regions

Geographers and social scientists have probed the effects of agglomeration and spatial clustering on innovation and economic growth. Economists and others have identified the role of knowledge spillovers in driving the innovation process. Although innovation is thus assumed to be a function of proximity, there has been little systematic research on the role of density in innovation. This research investigates density, and more specifically the density of creative workers, as a key factor influencing regional innovation. It uses principal components analysis to create and implement a composite measure of density and presents a model of innovation as a function of creative density. Statistical analyses including multivariate regression find that density and creativity separately and jointly affect innovation in metropolitan areas. The regression analysis finds a positive relationship between the density of creative workers and metropolitan patenting activity, suggesting that density is a key component of knowledge spillovers and a key component of innovation.

Beautiful Places: The Role of Perceived Aesthetic Beauty in Community Satisfaction

Florida R., Mellander C. and Stolarick K. Beautiful places: the role of perceived aesthetic beauty in community satisfaction, Regional Studies. This research uses a large survey sample of individuals across United States locations to examine the effects of beauty and aesthetics on community satisfaction. The paper conducts these estimations by ordinary least-squares, ordered logit, and multinomial logit. The findings confirm that beauty is significantly associated with community satisfaction. Other significant factors include economic security, schools, and social interaction. Further, community-level factors are significantly more important than individual demographic characteristics in explaining community satisfaction. Florida R., Mellander C. et Stolarick K. De beaux endroits: le rôle de la beauté esthétique observée dans lagrément communautaire, Regional Studies. Cette recherche emploie un grand échantillon dindividus à travers les Etats-Unis afin dexaminer les effets de la beauté et de lesthétique sur lagrément communautaire. Larticle conduit ses estimations à partir des régressions aux moindres carrés, dun logit ordonné, et dun logit multinomial. Les résultats affirment que la beauté est en étroite corrélation avec lagrément communautaire. Dautres facteurs importants comprennent la sécurité économique, les écoles, et linteraction sociale. Qui plus est, les facteurs dordre communautaire savèrent dautant plus importants que ne le sont les caractéristiques démographiques pour expliquer lagrément communautaire. Agrément communautaireu2003Beautéu2003Esthétiqueu2003Corrélation Florida R., Mellander C. und Stolarick K. Schöne Orte: die Rolle der subjektiven ästhetischen Schönheit für die Zufriedenheit von Gemeinschaften, Regional Studies. In dieser Studie werden im Rahmen einer Umfrage unter zahlreichen Personen an verschiedenen Orten der USA die Auswirkungen von Schönheit und Ästhetik auf die Zufriedenheit von Gemeinschaften untersucht. Die Schätzungen erfolgen mit Hilfe einer OLS-, geordneten Logit- und multinomialen Logit-Analyse. Aus den Ergebnissen geht hervor, dass zwischen Schönheit und der Zufriedenheit von Gemeinschaften ein signifikanter Zusammenhang besteht. Zu den weiteren signifikanten Faktoren gehören wirtschaftliche Sicherheit, Schulen und soziale Wechselwirkungen. Ebenso spielen Faktoren auf Gemeinschaftsebene zur Erklärung der Zufriedenheit von Gemeinschaften eine signifikant wichtigere Rolle als individuelle demografische Merkmale. Zufriedenheit von Gemeinschaftenu2003Schönheitu2003Ästhetiku2003Eignung Florida R., Mellander C. y Stolarick K. Lugares bonitos: el papel de la belleza estética percibida para la satisfacción de la comunidad, Regional Studies. En este estudio examinamos los efectos de la belleza y la estética en el nivel de satisfacción de la comunidad, utilizando una amplia muestra de personas en diferentes zonas de los Estados Unidos. Las estimaciones de este artículo se realizan mediante análisis por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios, un modelo ordenado logit y un modelo logit multinomial. Los resultados confirman que la belleza se asocia en gran medida con la satisfacción de la comunidad. Otros factores significativos serían la seguridad económica, la educación y la interacción social. Asimismo los factores con respecto a la comunidad son mucho más importantes que las características demográficas de las personas individuales para explicar la satisfacción de la comunidad. Satisfacción de la comunidadu2003Bellezau2003Estéticau2003Idoneidad

Here to Stay—The Effects of Community Satisfaction on the Decision to Stay

Abstract Why do some people stay in locations while others move? While most research has examined the factors which encourage people to move to new locations, we focus our research on the effects of satisfaction with individuals current location on the decision to stay. To do so, we examine the relative effects of three kinds of factors: (1) satisfaction with community or place-based factors such as aesthetic appeal, outdoor space and recreational amenities, artistic and cultural amenities, the ability to meet people and make friends; (2) community economic conditions; and (3) individual-level demographic factors such as income, human capital, and age. Our findings indicate that place-based factors, in particular the beauty and physical appeal of the current location and the ability to meet people and make friends, explain more of the desire to stay than do community economic conditions or individual demographic characteristics. Jy suis, jy reste—Effet de la satisfaction au niveau de la communauté sur la décision de rester Résumé Pourquoi certaines personnes restent-elles au même endroit, alors que dautres se déplacent? Tandis que la plupart des travaux de recherche se sont penchés sur les facteurs encourageant les gens à changer dendroit, nous nous concentrons sur les effets du degré de satisfaction des particuliers avec lendroit où ils résident sur leur décision de rester. Pour ceci, nous examinons les effets relatifs de trois types de facteurs: (1) la satisfaction avec la communauté ou avec des facteurs propres à lendroit, par exemple lesthétique du lieu, les espaces au grand air et les aménagements de loisirs, artistiques et culturels, la capacité de rencontrer des gens, de nouer des liens damitié; (2) des conditions économiques propres à la communauté; et (3) des facteurs démographiques au niveau personnel: revenus, capital humain, âge, entre autres. Nos conclusions indiquent que des facteurs basés sur les lieux, notamment la beauté et lattrait physique du lieu, et la capacité de rencontrer des gens et de nouer des liens damitié, expliquent le désir de rester sur place plutôt que des conditions économiques propres à la communauté ou des facteurs démographiques. La decisión de afincarse—Los efectos de la satisfacción de la comunidad sobre la decisión de afincarse Résumén ¿Por qué algunas personas se afincan en un lugar mientras que otras se mudan? Aunque en la mayoría de los estudios se han analizado los factores que motivan a las personas a mudarse a otros lugares, centramos nuestro estudio en los efectos de la satisfacción con el lugar actual del individuo sobre su decisión de afincarse. Para hacer esto, analizamos los efectos relativos de tres tipos de factores: (1) la satisfacción con la comunidad o factores basados en el lugar por ejemplo, la estética del lugar, el espacio exterior y los servicios recreativos, las prestaciones a artísticas y culturales, la posibilidad de reunirse con la gente y hacer amigos; (2) las condiciones económicas de la comunidad; y (3) los factores demográficos a nivel individual, por ejemplo, los ingresos, el capital humano y la edad. Nuestras conclusiones indican que los factores basados en el lugar, en especial la belleza y el aspecto físico del lugar actual y la posibilidad de reunirse con gente y hacer amigos, explican mejor el deseo de afincarse que las condiciones económicas de la comunidad o las características demográficas individuales.

Night-Time Light Data: A Good Proxy Measure for Economic Activity?

Much research has suggested that night-time light (NTL) can be used as a proxy for a number of variables, including urbanization, density, and economic growth. As governments around the world either collect census data infrequently or are scaling back the amount of detail collected, alternate sources of population and economic information like NTL are being considered. But, just how close is the statistical relationship between NTL and economic activity at a fine-grained geographical level? This paper uses a combination of correlation analysis and geographically weighted regressions in order to examine if light can function as a proxy for economic activities at a finer level. We use a fine-grained geo-coded residential and industrial full sample micro-data set for Sweden, and match it with both radiance and saturated light emissions. We find that the correlation between NTL and economic activity is strong enough to make it a relatively good proxy for population and establishment density, but the correlation is weaker in relation to wages. In general, we find a stronger relation between light and density values, than with light and total values. We also find a closer connection between radiance light and economic activity, than with saturated light. Further, we find the link between light and economic activity, especially estimated by wages, to be slightly overestimated in large urban areas and underestimated in rural areas.

Music scenes to music clusters: the economic geography of music in the US, 1970 – 2000

Where do musicians locate, and why do creative industries such as music continue to cluster? This paper analyzes the economic geography of musicians and the recording industry in the US from 1970 to 2000, to shed light on the locational dynamics of music and creative industries more broadly. We examine the role of scale and scope economies in shaping the clustering and concentration of musicians and music industry firms. We argue that these two forces are bringing about a transformation in the geography of both musicians and music industry firms, evidenced in a shift away from regionally clustered, genre-specific music scenes, such as Memphis or Detroit, toward larger regional centers such as New York City and Los Angeles, which offer large markets for music employment and concentrations of other artistic and cultural endeavors that increase demand for musicians. We use population and income to probe for scale effects and look at concentrations of other creative and artistic industries to test for scope effects, while including a range of control variables in our analysis. We use lagged variables to determine whether certain places are consistently more successful at fostering concentrations of musicians and the music industry and to test for path dependency. We find some role for scale and scope effects and that both musicians and the music industry are concentrating in a relatively small number of large regional centers.

The Great Divide: Economic Development Theory Versus Practice-A Survey of the Current Landscape

As a scholarly field, economic development is a theoretical exploration with very real implications for place. As a practice, economic development is an essential component of local policy and governing and a perceived driver of success and vitality for cities and regions alike. The notable distinction between practice and theory may explain the lack of scholarly consensus and the ambiguity in effectiveness of the practice of development. Using a three-tiered approach, we undertake a comparative analysis of the way in which practitioners and scholars undertake economic development. Through a study of Economic Development Quarterly journal keywords and a review of nine cities’ economic development initiatives, we assess the most frequent topics and initiatives within the discipline. Using the International Economic Development Council best practice awards, we look at what is generally viewed as “successful.” We conclude with an assessment of the general development landscape, considering implications to our findings.

The Occupation—Industry Mismatch: New Trajectories for Regional Cluster Analysis and Economic Development

This article is a natural extension of the current discussion on occupational clustering and economic growth. It is argued that, while there has been increased interest in the role of occupations, little has been done from a methodological and empirical approach to discover how the study of occupations can illuminate the study of industry. Prior work in cluster analysis has generally taken an ‘either/or’ approach towards occupational and industrial analysis. Porter’s clustering model has illuminated the cross-fertilising linkages across industries, but this is only half the story. It is argued that what drives these clusters is not only the industry, but also the people and their occupational skills and, therefore, such analysis must be expanded. Using the case of the IT sector in Los Angeles, the industry approach is combined with an ‘occupational cluster analysis’. It is concluded that this approach leads to a better understanding of regional competitiveness and growth.

Knowledge in Cities

This study identifies clusters of US and Canadian metropolitan areas with similar knowledge traits. These groups—ranging from ‘Making regions’, characterised by knowledge about manufacturing, to ‘Thinking regions’, noted for knowledge about the arts, humanities, IT and commerce—can be used by analysts and policy-makers for the purposes of regional benchmarking or comparing the types of programme and infrastructure available to support closely related economic activities. In addition, these knowledge-based clusters help to explain the types of region that have levels of economic development that exceed, or fall short of, other places with similar amounts of college attainment. Regression results show that ‘Engineering’, ‘Building’, ‘Enterprising’ and ‘Making’ regions are associated with higher levels of productivity and/or income per capita; while ‘Teaching’, ‘Understanding’, ‘Working’ and ‘Comforting’ regions have lower levels of economic development.

The Inventive, the Educated, and the Creative: How Do They Affect Metropolitan Productivity?

A longstanding research tradition assumes that endogenous technological development increases regional productivity. It has been assumed that measures of regional patenting activity or human capital are an adequate way to capture the endogenous creation of new ideas that result in productivity improvements. This process has been conceived as occurring in two stages. First, an invention or innovation is generated, and then it is developed and commercialized to create benefits for the individual or firm owning the idea. Typically these steps are combined into a single model of the “invention in/productivity out” variety. Using data on Gross Metropolitan Product per worker and on inventors, educational attainment, and creative workers (together with other important socioeconomic controls), we unpack the model back to the two-step process and use a SEM modeling framework to investigate the relationships among inventive activity and potential inventors, regional technology levels, and regional productivity outcomes. Our results show almost no significant direct relationship between invention and productivity, except through technology. Clearly, the simplification of the “invention in/productivity out” model does not hold, which supports other work that questions the use of patents and patenting related measures as meaningful innovation inputs to processes that generate regional productivity and productivity gains. We also find that the most effective measure of regional inventive capacity, in terms of its effect on technology, productivity, and productivity growth is the share of the workforce engaged in creative activities.