encourage entrepreneurship in their communities. Glaeser and Kerr warn, however, that policymakers should proceed cautiously, because economic research is only just beginning to fully understand key issues.
Even so, they note, the available evidence does suggest a few tentative policy conclusions. First, investing too much in attracting large, mature firms may not be good policy. These firms may provide an immediate headline associated with new jobs, but encouraging a profusion of small, independent firms is more likely to lead to sustained economic growth
Second, there is little reason to have much faith in the ability of local governments to play venture capitalist through public investment funds. Classic economic research found that Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Investment, which was staffed with Japan’s best minds, generally picked losers. Why should local investment funds be able to do any better?
Third, there is much to be said for the strategy of focusing on the quality-of-life policies that can attract smart, entrepreneurial people. This approach is particularly appealing because the downside is so low. What community, Glaeser and Kerr ask, ever screwed up by providing too much quality of life?
Finally, there is a robust link between educational institutions and certain types of high-return entrepreneurship. These facts do not imply that universities should be locally subsidized, but they do suggest that imposing costs that restrict the growth of such institutions can be costly.
“What Makes a City Entrepreneurial?” a Rappaport Institute Policy Brief by Glaeser and Kerr’s is available at http://www.hks.harvard.edu/rappaport/downloads/policybriefs/entrepreneurs.pdf
The Rappaport Institute’s series on the geography of entrepreneurship will continue on Monday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. with a talk on Massachusetts’ innovation agenda by Gregory Bialecki, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, who will be speaking in the Allison Dining Room, 5th floor of the Kennedy School of Government’s Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge.
The series will conclude on Wednesday, March 24th at 5:30 with a talk by HBS Professor Josh Lerner on “Geography, Venture Capital, and Public Policy.” That talk will be held in Nye AB, which also is on the 5th floor of the Kennedy School’s Taubman Building.
