Do colleges and universities increase their region's human capital?

Arbeitspapier

We investigate whether the degree production and research and development (R&D) activities of colleges and universities are related to the amount and types of human capital present in the metropolitan areas where the institutions are located. We find that degree production has only a small positive relationship with local stocks of human capital, suggesting that migration plays an important role in the geographic distribution of human capital. Moreover, we show that spillovers from academic R&D activities tilt the structure of local labor markets toward occupations requiring innovation and technical training. These findings demonstrate that colleges and universities raise local human capital levels by increasing both the supply of and demand for skill.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Staff Report ; No. 401

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; General Regional Economics (includes Regional Data) ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
• Subject: Human capital ; higher education ; knowledge spillovers ; local economic development

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Abel, Jaison R. ; Deitz, Richard
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• (where): New York, NY
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/60946
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET