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Persistent peers and the rhetoric of state economic competition

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  • Schwarzkopf, David L.

Abstract

State economic development agencies and politicians often express concern about their state's technology-based economic development (TBED) by framing it in terms of a competition with other states. States can focus their competitive efforts if they know who their peers are. Knowing a state's peers also allows development agencies to identify likely targets for borrowing or adapting development practices. This study examines the relative progress of the 50 states on a series of 53 TBED measures published by the National Science Foundation. All states report improvement in over more than half of the variables used in the study, with over 60% of the states moving in the same direction on 80% of the measures. Clusters based on self-organizing maps show 37 states change cluster membership over the measurement period of approximately 12 years, yet all states have at least one “persistent peer”—a state that they are similar with at both the beginning and the end of the period. The combination of large-scale similar movement and the presence of persistent peers sets limits on talk of TBED progress framed by a zero-sum or “leapfrog” rhetoric. Indeed, looking at TBED as a zero-sum game deflects attention from the state's particular strengths and masks the true progress the state has made on its citizens' behalf.

Suggested Citation

  • Schwarzkopf, David L., 2019. "Persistent peers and the rhetoric of state economic competition," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 46-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:57:y:2019:i:c:p:46-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.12.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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