Impact of Science and Technology on Regional Economic Development An Assessment of National Policies Regarding Research and Development in the Context of Regional Economic Development (1969) / Chapter Skim
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Characteristics of Regional Growth--Regional Economic Implications Associated with the Location of R&D Institutions
Characteristics of Regional Growth--Regional Economic Implications Associated with the Location of R&D Institutions
Pages 20-30
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From page 20... ...
This has led economists to characterize production activities as being input-oriented, market-oriented, oriented to intermediate sites or, when none of these apply, as "footloose." In recent years, important shifts in the national economy have taken place, and these in turn have had profound effects on the economy of various regions. As Harvey Perloff has very plausibly indicated: 20
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From page 21... ...
Many regions aspire to a "high-technology" economy, which has come to be regarded throughout the country as synonymous with growth and prosperity. There is a belief that federal science funds and the placement of federal science installations can help regions attain that goal.
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From page 22... ...
As is indicated in the following section, the factors that affect the development of a modern technologically based economy are not related simply to the level of R&D activity, but involve the entire regional or community environment. Factors Affecting the Introduction of High-Technology Enterprise In the development of an advanced economy, technology is usually perceived as an important stimulant, if not an essential ingredient.
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From page 23... ...
In order to attract or to retain talented professionals, the region must provide an inviting cultural environment as well as a pleasant physical environment. Human resources.
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From page 24... ...
There is little doubt that the physical attractiveness of such communities as Phoenix, Denver, or the San Francisco Bay area has been a major factor in affecting the decisions to locate new hightechnology facilities or to enlarge existing plants in those metropolitan areas. Since the critical resource in many professionally dominated fields is the availability of highly trained talent, access to the amenities of pleasant living may override other locational considerations.
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From page 25... ...
Regional Economic Implications Associated with the Location of R&D Institutions The term "R&D institutions," as used here, is meant to denote the establishments and organizational entities that are directly charged with the performance of R&D. R&D institutions include laboratories and test facilities of industrial, governmental, university, and non-profit organizations, establishments engaged in analytic studies and a large range of establishments not designated as laboratories but engaged in the development of new materials, processes, and devices, e.g., electronics divisions of major companies.
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From page 26... ...
This "leakage" reduces the size of the local employment multiplier resulting from the award of an R&D contract to a local firm, compared with other activity in the region or with other R&D centers. There seems little doubt that a dominant position of one industrial corporation in a given region tends to decrease the external multiplier effect.
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From page 27... ...
. there had not only been an increase in the number and quality of courses offered, but employees of the company had been elected to the local school board.24 A study of a large federal R&D facility in Tullahoma, Tennessee, provided further specifics: The impact of the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC)
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From page 28... ...
It may well confer direct economic advantages on a region, and in some cases it undoubtedly has; but it also tends to distract faculty and students from their main educational missions and to create divided loyalties on campus. The spirit of entrepreneurship and involvement with the outside world is likely
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From page 29... ...
The presence of a large, locally dominant defense R&D establishment does not provide the conditions required for an increase in the number of local prime contractors. Domination by one organization may even be considered a negative factor.25 The nature of the market for the larger corporation that functions as a prime contractor for defense, space, or other major federal development programs differs substantially from the market for the smaller firm.
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From page 30... ...
In contrast, a small R&D company is usually highly dependent on its local financial community. The small defense company is primarily a sub-contractor and its markets are the large defense prime contractors or the major sub-contractors.
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