Increasing the Economic Development Benefits of Higher Education in Michigan

W.E. Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper No. 04-106

17 Pages Posted: 22 Oct 2004

See all articles by Timothy Bartik

Timothy Bartik

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Date Written: September 2004

Abstract

This paper considers how a state such as Michigan can increase the economic development benefits of higher education. Research evidence suggests that higher education increases local economic development principally by increasing the quality of the local workforce, and secondarily by increasing local innovative ideas. These economic development benefits of higher education can be increased by: 1) competent management of conventional economic development programs that focus on business attraction and retention; 2) policies that focus on increasing local job skills by educating the state's residents, as opposed to attracting in-migrants; 3) policies that address specific "market failures" in how higher education leads to increased workforce quality or business innovations.

Keywords: Higher, education, economic, development, Michigan, Bartik, Upjohn

JEL Classification: R580, I280, H720

Suggested Citation

Bartik, Timothy, Increasing the Economic Development Benefits of Higher Education in Michigan (September 2004). W.E. Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper No. 04-106, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=607823 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.607823

Timothy Bartik (Contact Author)

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research ( email )

300 South Westnedge Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4686
United States