Research Universities & Regional Economies

There are multiple channels through which research universities impact regional and national economies. These channels are growing in importance and scale as the fundamental output of research universities becomes ever more valuable to an economy that is fueled by innovative endeavors. Ultimately, the impact of research universities is determined by the degree to which they embed themselves and their graduates in the local business and economic milieu and contribute to the social capital building across numerous dimensions.

Research universities fulfill their mission by creating new knowledge and disseminating it. Universities achieve this by instilling new knowledge in the human capital they develop and through research and discovery that is translated to existing firms or commercialized by startups. This paper explores the processes and metrics to measure the contributions of research universities through their (1) operations, (2) human capital creation, (3) licensing and academic startup activity, (4) business and economic engagement pathways and (5) enhancing quality of place through social capital building and interactions with their communities. How do universities produce knowledge and transfer it by codified and tacit exchange with the private sector? The American research university may be one of the greatest inventions this nation has ever produced.

Research university leadership and economic development officials must understand the multifaceted dimensions to create jobs and economic opportunity in their communities. Monitoring metrics such as those contains in this report could improve focus and positively impact outcomes.