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More than STEM: spillovers from higher education institution infrastructure investments in the arts

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas S. Noonan

    (Indiana University-Purdue University)

  • Joanna Woronkowicz

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • Jessica Sherrod Hale

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEIs) represent an enormous density of investment and resources, concentrating infrastructure spending and creating high human capital citizens and knowledge spillovers increasingly seen as critical to advancing regional quality of life. While HEIs’ prominent role in promoting regional economic growth, innovation, and attractiveness receives considerable research attention, most of that attention is paid to aspects of HEIs that are directly related to STEM activity. There are various theories that suggest spillovers from non-STEM activity at HEIs as well, specifically in the arts. This study examines whether spillovers occur for HEIs’ large capital investments in the arts. Specifically, we focus on HEI investments in arts physical infrastructure and whether these investments have any effects on regional-level business activity, including jobs and firms. To analyze HEI spillovers of physical arts infrastructure on regional jobs and firms, we use construction starts data on building projects from Dodge Analytics, Inc. and data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which include administrative data for every college, university, and technical/vocational institution that participates in the federal student financial aid programs. We couple these data with public data on regional-level socioeconomic indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Zip-code Business Patterns data. We employ a quasi-experimental propensity-score matching design in order to control for a host of HEI and regional-level characteristics in examining the impact of infrastructure investments. The results suggest strong and consistent spillover effects (i.e. overall and specifically in the arts industry) for regions with HEIs that make these investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas S. Noonan & Joanna Woronkowicz & Jessica Sherrod Hale, 2021. "More than STEM: spillovers from higher education institution infrastructure investments in the arts," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1784-1813, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:46:y:2021:i:6:d:10.1007_s10961-020-09825-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-020-09825-2
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Spillovers; Higher education institutions; Cultural infrastructure; Arts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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