The Local Economic Impact of Science Spending: Evidence from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
53 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2018 Last revised: 30 Apr 2019
Date Written: April 2019
Abstract
We use detailed information about American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending to identify the distinctive effects R&D stimulus had on county level employment dynamics. ARRA R&D and science funding was awarded to over half the counties in the country. Counties with research universities and existing manufacturing employment were more likely to receive funding. We estimate that, over the program’s five-year disbursement period, each one million USD in R&D and science spending was associated with twenty-seven additional jobs in the county that received the stimulus and one additional job in adjacent counties. The average cost of a job for a year was less than $15,000.
Keywords: federal spending, fiscal multiplier, R&D, science, research, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
JEL Classification: E62, E65, O38
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation