contextquestionsmethodsplacesperformancesummary varieties of knowledge and economic performance...

context questions methods places performance summary

varieties of knowledge and economic performance evidence from canadian city-regions, 1991-2001

greg spencer & tara vinodraidepartment of geography &munk centre for international studiesuniversity of toronto

context

onris fall workshop, toronto, canada, november 24, 2006


background: goals of quantitative analysis

• social dynamics of innovation (theme I)– what is the relationship between economic performance, economic

diversity and local / non-local linkages and knowledge flows?

• social foundations of talent attraction/retention (theme II)– what is the relationship between economic performance and

quality of place?• cultural dynamism, social diversity, openness and tolerance, social

inclusion and cohesion, socio-spatial polarization

• socio-economic / demographic profiles of city-regions– what are the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of

the 15 city-regions included in the ISRN study?– facilitate comparison and the selection of case studies, etc.

context


purpose of today’s presentation

• present preliminary and exploratory research addressing issues related to understanding the relationship between knowledge diversity and the economic performance of city-regions

• informed by three recent debates / developments in the literature on learning, innovation, and regional economic performance– talent, human capital, and the city– economic specialization vs. diversity – knowledge bases / typologies and innovation

context


received wisdom

• talent, human capital and the growth of cities– uneven geography of highly educated labour; talent attracted to,

and concentrated in, particular urban centres (Florida 2002)– cities with initial higher levels of education experienced higher

levels of growth in share of highly educated workers (Berry and Glaeser 2005)

– focus on university-educated workers

• diversity and regional economic growth– relative importance of specialization (Marshall) vs. diversity

(Jacobs) to economic dynamism– presence of ‘related’ variety (knowledge spillovers) leads to

economic growth whereas ‘unrelated’ variety (portfolio effect) does not influence growth (Frenken et al. 2004; Boschma and Iammorino 2006)

context


received wisdom

• knowledge bases (Asheim and Gertler 2005, Asheim et al. 2006)– innovation process of firms and industries differ substantially

between various sectors, whose activities require specific ‘knowledge bases’

– analytic – science / math-based– synthetic – engineering-based– symbolic – culturally-based

– industrial / sector-basedapproach

context


received wisdom

• combining insights from these three perspectives suggests:– need to go beyond simply noting the presence of degree/diploma

holders to examine the specific knowledge assets / qualifications of workers in the local economy

– the knowledge characteristics of the local labour force may be important in explaining regional economic performance

– presence of specific knowledge assets individually or in combination may affect growth outcomes

• ‘diverse specializations’

context


key questions addressed

• can we characterize particular places by assessing the knowledge characteristics of the local labour force?

• do city-regions with a diverse knowledge infrastructure experience higher levels of economic performance compared to cities with a more specialized knowledge infrastructure?– does the presence of particular forms of knowledge result in

particular types of growth (i.e. employment vs. income growth)?– are different growth outcomes based on having different

combinations of knowledge specializations?

questions


data: sources and variables

• sources of data– Census of Population, 1991 & 2001– 136 city-regions (census metropolitan areas and census

agglomerations)

• key variables– educational attainment

• post-secondary degree/diploma holders• knowledge specialization (field of study – 10 categories)• average years of schooling

– income, income change– employment, employment change– presence of universities (ph.d. granting, other)

methods


data: methodological approach

• assign fields of study (10 categories) to knowledge base groups

• identify knowledge base of city-regions– location quotients – presence of knowledge type as proportion of

population 15 years or older, compare local to national

– 136 city-regions can be assigned to one of 8 categories depending on knowledge specializations present in that place

• None• Symbolic, Synthetic, Analytic• Symbolic-Synthetic, Symbolic-Analytic, Analytic-Synthetic• All

• compare economic performance between these 8 groups– income growth, employment growth

methods


defining knowledge bases: field of study

methods

Symbolic Synthetic Analytic Educational, recreational and counselling services

Engineering and applied sciences

Commerce, management and business administration

Fine and applied arts Applied science technologies and trades

Agricultural, biological, nutritional, and food sciences

Humanities and related fields

Mathematics, computer and physical sciences

Social sciences and related fields

Health professions and related technologies


correlation between key variables

places

% S

ymbo

lic Q

uals

% S

ynth

etic

Qua

ls

% A

naly

tic Q

uals

% P

ost-

seco

ndar

y Q

uals

Em

ploy

men

t

Inco

me

Pos

t-se

cond

ary

Cha

nge

Em

ploy

men

t Cha

nge

Inco

me

Cha

nge

% Symbolic Quals 1.00% Synthetic Quals 0.06 1.00% Analytic Quals 0.73*** 0.18** 1.00% Post-secondary Quals 0.72*** 0.44*** 0.81*** 1.00Employment 0.35*** -0.04 0.24** 0.28*** 1.00Income 0.10 0.45*** -0.09 0.35*** 0.26*** 1.00Post-secondary Change -0.11 -0.18 -0.13 0.07 0.19** 0.17** 1.00Employment Change 0.23** 0.02 0.22** 0.21** 0.14* -0.05 0.14** 1.00Income Change -0.01 0.17** -0.11 -0.02 0.01 0.09 0.23** 0.31*** 1.00

1991

1991

1991-2001


post-secondary education and economic performance

• findings confirms relationship between higher education and economic performance (employment growth and income)

• presence of analytic and symbolic knowledge– tend to be geographically concentrated in fewer places and co-

located– associated with larger cities and employment growth BUT not

higher incomes / income growth

• presence of synthetic knowledge– tends to be more geographically dispersed and not co-located with

other knowledge types– associated with smaller cities, higher incomes and income growth

BUT not employment growth

• H: combinations of knowledge specializations may lead to better overall economic performance

places


categorizing places: combining knowledge specializations

places

symbolic syntheticsymbolic-synthetic

symbolic-synthetic-analytic

analytic

symbolic-analytic

analytic-synthetic

no specialization


knowledge specializations by place

Grand Falls-Windsor

Labrador City

Campbellton

Edmundston

Matane

Rivière-du-Loup

Dolbeau-Mistassini

Saint-Georges

Magog

Cowansville

Victoriaville

Drummondville

Granby

Saint-Hyacinthe

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield

Lachute

Val-d'Or

Amos

Cornwall

places

symbolic synthetic

analytic

Charlottetown

Truro Moncton

Camrose

North Battleford

Portage la Prairie

Joliette

Cobourg

Port Hope and Hope

Stratford

North Bay

Wetaskiwin

Québec

Sherbrooke

Montréal

Ottawa-HullToronto

GuelphLondon

Winnipeg Brandon

Regina

Saskatoon

Lethbridge

Peterborough

Kitchener

Halifax

Fredericton

Rimouski

YellowknifeWhitehorse

Victoria Vancouver

EdmontonCalgary Kingston

Trois-Rivières

St. John's

Gander

NanaimoKamloops

Kelowna

Penticton

Cranbrook

Red Deer

Chicoutimi-Jonquière

Kentville

Brockville

Barrie

Corner Brook Summerside

New Glasgow Cape Breton Saint John

Bathurst Baie-Comeau Alma

Sept-Îles Thetford Mines Shawinigan

La Tuque Sorel-Tracy Rouyn-Noranda

Belleville Oshawa Hamilton

St. Catharines-Niagara

Sarnia

Greater Sudbury

Elliot Lake Timmins Sault Ste. Marie

Thunder Bay Kenora Thompson

Moose Jaw Estevan Medicine Hat

Lloydminster Cold Lake Grande PrairieWood Buffalo

Vernon

Duncan

Port Alberni

Courtenay

Campbell River

Powell River Williams Lake

QuesnelPrince Rupert

Kitimat

Terrace

Prince George

Dawson Creek

Fort St. John

Hawkesbury

Pembroke

Kawartha Lakes

Brantford

Woodstock

Tillsonburg

Norfolk

Chatham-Kent

Leamington

Windsor

Owen Sound

Collingwood

Orillia

Midland

Haileybury

Yorkton

Swift Current

Prince Albert

Chilliwack

Abbotsford


knowledge specializations: number of places, 1991 & 2001

places

1991: 62001: 1

1991: 472001: 28

1991: 22001: 3

1991: 112001: 22

1991: 62001: 6

1991: 122001: 9

1991: 122001: 7

1991: 402001: 60

symbolic synthetic

analytic


knowledge specializations: employment income, 1991

performance

$23,483 $25,125$24,835

$25,706

$20,970

$26,957 $23,489

$22,970

symbolic synthetic

analytic


employment growth by knowledge specialization

performance

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

No Specialization

Symbolic

Synthetic

Analytic

Symbolic-Synthetic

Synthetic-Analytic

Analytic-Symbolic

Symbolic-Synthetic-Analytic

% change in employment 1991-2001


income growth by knowledge specialization

performance

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

No Specialization

Symbolic

Synthetic

Analytic

Symbolic-Synthetic

Synthetic-Analytic

Analytic-Symbolic

Symbolic-Synthetic-Analytic

% change in employment income 1991-2001


knowledge specializations: key characteristics

summary

RareLow Growth

CommonSmall/Mid-SizedHigh IncomeLower Growth

Rare

Large CitiesHigh Income

FastestGrowth

RareLow Growth

Large CitiesHighest Inc. Growing

Small/Mid-sizedFast Growing

CommonSmallerLow Income

symbolic synthetic

analytic


preliminary findings / arguments / hypotheses

• concentration of analytic and symbolic knowledge base in larger cities suggests …– higher level of embeddedness, ‘stickiness’– importance of face-to-face interaction, access to experts,

universities, centres of excellence / star scientists / anchor firms; symbolic

– importance of taking advantage of social and cultural diversity

• decline in number of places with primarily synthetic knowledge base may be associated with offshoring of particular manufacturing activities, industrial restructuring

summary


preliminary arguments / hypotheses

• more inclusive and nuanced definition of highly educated/skilled workers (i.e. includes all post-secondary diploma/degree holders rather than simply university degree holders) and their field of specialization

• emphasis on measuring knowledge (types of post-secondary qualifications) at the city-region level rather than via industries or occupations

• potential benefit of having combinations of knowledge (variety) within particular places to overall economic performance (particularly employment growth)

summary


next steps: analysis

• hypothesis testing and multivariate analysis– what is the relationship between economic performance and the

diversity of the knowledge base?• industrial structure• variations by size• social inequality• other regional effects

– test other measures of ‘diversity’

• advantage to considering disaggregated categories of post-secondary qualifications?

• solicit feedback and comments

summary


thank you

• we would like to acknowledge Meric Gertler and David Wolfe for their the valuable comments and insights

• thank you to Deborah Huntley for her on-going help and support

• we would also like to thank the Manic Monday Economic Geography Study Group (Kate Geddie, Atle Hauge, Brian Hracs, Dieter Kogler, and Josee Rekers) for pointing and laughing as appropriate

• for further questions:[email protected] or [email protected]

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