Silicon Valley Competitiveness and Innovation Project (SVCIP) formed to proactively identify a data-driven public policy agenda to enhance and reinforce the region's competitive advantages in innovation, and ensure that Silicon Valley residents have access to the job opportunities and prosperity linked to growth in innovation industries. SVCIP will periodically update the dashboard of indicators and progress on public policy actions. SVCIP is a collaboration of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

We assess a prominent argument for local economic policies that favor locally-owned businesses – namely, that locally-owned firms are more likely to internalize the costs to the community of decisions to reduce employment and hence help to insulate cities from adverse economic shocks. We test this argument by examining how establishment-level employment responses to economic shocks are affected by establishment ownership.

Recent years have seen the rapid emergence of a new type of program aimed at seeding startup companies. These programs, often referred to as accelerators, differ from previously known seed-stage institutions such as incubators and angel groups. While proliferation of such accelerators is evident, evidence on efficacy and role of these programs is scant.

Workshop on Tracking the Dynamics of Network Relations in Industry Clusters
George Washington University
November 7, 2014

An introduction to and assessment of the tools, models, and metrics of network-based cluster analysis. 

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On September 29, 2014, Professor Michael Porter delivered a keynote speech at Mapping the Midwest's Future, a conference held in Minneapolis and hosted by the University of Minnesota that officially launched the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool. His presentation focused on U.S. competitiveness and cluster-based economic development, to reshape the approach to economic development in the U.S.

With 38,000 workers at more than 170 companies in 22 million square feet of buildings over 7,000 acres, Research Triangle Park is the largest research park in North America. And RTP isn’t just about its big corporate campuses—it has five buildings devoted to start-up ventures, and 60 percent of its companies have 20 employees or fewer. But today’s entrepreneurs, Mr. Geolas said in an interview, want more-inclusive settings where they can meet with one another, share ideas, find new workers, and just enjoy themselves.

Michael E. Porter launched the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool on September 29, 2014 in Minneapolis as part of a two-day conference called Mapping the Midwest’s Future, held by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The conference hosted over 150 business leaders, policymakers, economic development officials and academics from twelve Midwest states and four Canadian provinces. The Humphrey School of Public Affairs has compiled a full listing of presentations from the conference, with documentation where available.

On September 29, 2014, Professor Michael Porter delivered a keynote speech at Mapping the Midwest's Future, a conference held in Minneapolis and hosted by the University of Minnesota that officially launched the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool. His presentation focused on U.S. competitiveness and cluster-based economic development, to reshape the approach to economic development in the U.S. based on a deeper understanding of the drivers of competitiveness in the modern global economy.

Universities and national labs have the power to drive Illinois’ 21st-century knowledge economy by infusing talent and technology across a spectrum of industries to create new products, companies, and jobs. According to the state’s recently published economic development plan, for every new high-tech position in metro areas, an average of five additional local jobs are created—two in professional fields and three in nonprofessional fields. Given this economic multiplier, fostering research activity within the state is an important priority.

Nearly five years after the Great Recession of 2008, the road to economic recovery has been sluggish nationwide – with employment and economic activity still below levels recorded before the severe recession hit. Of particular concern is that the growth in Maine, along with that of the rest of New England, continues to lag behind even the sluggish growth of the overall U.S. recovery.