"Mo’ money, mo’ research: How 11 states attracted the smartest scientists"

[applegrove]

Mo’ money, mo’ research: How 11 states attracted the smartest scientists

By Brian Fung at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/12/mo-money-mo-research-how-11-states-attracted-the-smartest-scientists/

"SNIP...............................


A new paper published by the UC-Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti and Daniel Wilson of the San Francisco Federal Reserve finds that states that created tax or other incentives for the biotech industry over the last 20 years have experienced tremendous growth in the number of “star” scientists inhabiting those states.

Star scientists, the authors explain, are “exceptionally prolific patenters” who account for the top 5 percent of all biotech patent filers nationally over the past decade. States that adopted biotech subsidies (there are about 11 of them, including Maryland, according to the paper) increased the number of star scientists within their boundaries by 15 percent. Employment in related sectors also improved — in one pharmaceutical sub-industry, by as much as 31 percent. Maryland is listed as having a tax credit for “early-stage biotech companies” that’s been in effect since 2008.

The cascading effects of bringing in new scientists led to indirect booms for retail, real estate and construction. The construction industry in particular saw employment gains of about 16 percent after biotech subsidies took effect.

The subsidies proved pretty effective at getting star scientists to relocate. But how good were they at converting people into new star scientists — those who weren’t in the top 5 percent before?



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[applegrove]

1. Government was partially responsible for the high technology cluster in Ottawa known

as Silicon Valley North in the latter half of the 20th Century. Government and government money does create jobs and wealth.