. "Ensuring That the United States Has the Best Environment for Innovation." Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.
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Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future
Require transparent disclosure of offshoring. “The publicly owned firms that engage in offshoring ought to at least be transparent in their business dealings, offering layoff notices and providing clear accounting of the employment in their various units, both domestic and abroad.”47
SUPPORTING CLUSTERS AND REGIONS
The tendency of innovative capabilities (such as research, manufacturing, educational institutions, and the workforce) to conglomerate in specific regions has been a subject of economic inquiry for some time.48 The Council on Competitiveness sponsored a multiyear initiative to study the phenomenon in the US context.49 One recent analysis postulates that regions need to draw a “creative class” human-resource base to compete effectively in knowledge-intensive industries.50 Although many of the policy levers to promote regional innovation are in the hands of state and local governments, the federal government could play a larger role through such actions as the following:
“The federal government should create at least ten Innovation Hot Spots over the next five years. State and local economic development entities and educational institutions should raise matching funds and develop proposals to operate these pilot national innovation centers.”51
“Innovation Partnerships need to be created to bridge the traditional gap that has existed between the long-term discovery process and commercialization. These new partnerships would involve academia, business and government, and they would be tailored to capture regional interests and economic clusters.”52
“The federal government should establish a lead agency for economic development programs to coordinate regional efforts and ensure that a common focus on innovation-based growth is being implemented.”53
47
Economic Policy Institute. EPI Issue Guide: Offshoring. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2004.
48
M. J. Piore and C. F. Sabel. The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New York: Basic Books, 1984.
49
Council on Competitiveness. Clusters of Innovation: Regional Foundations of US Competitiveness. Washington, DC: Council on Competitiveness, 2001.
50
R. Florida. The Rise of the Creative Class … and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure,Community, & Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books, 2002.
