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Week of September 15 - 21, 2008 |
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The Next President and the Entrepreneurial Economy
Current polls show the race between Barack
Obama and John McCain to be amazingly close. So how will this historic
election influence America’s standing in the global economy and its
ability to compete? What specific policies will the new administration
pursue, and how will they affect America's entrepreneurs and business
owners? A live webcast from the Inc. 500/5000 Conference, moderated by
Kauffman Foundation president and CEO Carl Schramm, will feature key
economic advisers to the two candidates. Jason Furman, director of
economic policy for the Obama campaign, and Doug Holtz-Eakin, director
of economic policy for the McCain campaign, will provide insights into
the candidates' thoughts and plans regarding taxes, job creation,
credit, innovation, immigration policy, education, the SBA, and other
issues that are critical to the growth and success of small and
medium-size businesses over the next four years and beyond. |
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Competitiveness: Where Does America Stand? Earlier this year,
NDE-news reported on a RAND Corporation study, U.S. Competitiveness in
Science and Technology, that took a somewhat contrarian stand by arguing
that concerns about America’s economic competitiveness were overblown. A
new Information Technology and Innovation Policy Foundation (ITIF)
report counters the optimistic scenarios painted by the RAND
researchers. The report, entitled “RAND’s Rose-Colored Glasses,” claims
that the earlier RAND research contains numerous analytical flaws. The
ITIF study does not dispute that the US currently leads the world in
many key science and technology sectors. However, it contends that this
lead is eroding and that RAND’s research fails to account for these
trends. The ITIF report provides a number of detailed analytical
critiques of RAND’s research, but all of these rejoinders are based on a
common theme. By downplaying current problem areas, RAND’s research
contributes to a sense of complacency. As a result, policymakers may be
lulled into a continuation of the status quo, as opposed to introducing
new initiatives and new investments that are required to bolster
America’s future innovation capacity. |
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America’s Best Performing Metros
The latest edition of the Milken Institute’s
Best Performing Cities report was released earlier this month, and, as
usual, Southern and Western cities top the list. The Milken analysis
places a heavy emphasis on a region’s recent job growth. This year’s
analysis tracks performance between 2002 and 2007, and also includes a
separate measure that tracks job growth up to March 2008. As such, the
report does a good job of trying to assess how regions are dealing with
some of the impact of the current economic downturn. This year’s top
performing metro area is Provo-Orem, Utah. Other top performers (in rank
order) are: Raleigh-Durham, NC; Salt Lake City, UT; Austin-Round Rock,
TX: and Huntsville, AL. The best performing small metro areas also hail
from the South and the West. They are (in rank order): Midland, TX;
Coeur d’Alene, ID; Bend, OR; St. George, UT; and Grand Junction, CO. |
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Supporting Innovation in Services
When most people think of innovation, they
tend to think of science, technology, or manufacturing, i.e. the
development of new products or technologies. But, innovation in services
is also an important, and poorly understood, part of an entrepreneurial
economy. A new study from within Great Britain’s Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), examines the drivers
of innovation in five key service sectors: retail, logistics,
construction, environmental, and Internet-delivered content services.
Together, these five sectors represent roughly 25% of the British
economy, so innovations could have a huge spin-off effect. The study
describes three big changes affecting service industries: (1) The
convergence of manufacturing and service innovation where many firms add
a “service wrapper” (e.g. post-sales maintenance and support) to the
sale of a manufactured product; (2) The growing role of users and
consumers in the innovation process; and, (3) Growing concerns about
sustainability and the environment. In this changed climate, businesses
must look to innovate in all aspects of their operations. On the
government side, agencies must enhance investments in critical areas
such as information technology and waste management, support advanced
training in innovative business processes, and expand the availability
of financing to smaller service businesses that are seeking to develop
new innovative processes and tools. |
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Several new papers sponsored by the National
Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) examine the impact of shared
capitalism compensation schemes, such as stock options and employee
stock ownership programs (ESOPs) on company performance. As part of the
NBER Shared Capitalism research project, the researchers surveyed
workers in fourteen companies that actively use these compensation
practices. They found that greater involvement in the programs generally
led to higher job satisfaction, higher pay and benefits, and greater job
security. A second study of more than 200 worksites found that these
compensation programs also contribute to better innovation outcomes.
These systems seem to play an important role in building a company-wide
innovation culture and in stimulating participation in innovation
activities. |
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The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. |
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National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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stories © 2008 The Public Forum Institute
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