Clustering and active transportation infrastructures have a significant impact on economic development strategies for attracting high-tech firms. High-tech firms cluster to create economies of scale. In theory, such clusters favor walkable and transit-accessible locations following the preferences of footloose workers of the creative class, an expectation that underpins pro-walkability and transit-accessible development strategies. Such approaches, however, fail to consider countervailing factors including changes in logistics, land values, the rise of the e-economy, and gig workers, which could result in a preference for auto-centric locations. This study addresses the knowledge gap by investigating differences in location behaviors of six high-tech sectoral categories with respect to transportation infrastructures. The analysis uses a firm-level micro dataset provided by Esri along with multiple logit regressions to explore the relationship between high-tech firm locations and transportation amenities in 627 high-tech clusters from the 52 largest U.S. regions. The results show that not all high-tech industries opt for walkable and transit-accessible locations. Compared with other high-tech specializations, professional services (i.e., data processing/computer or engineering and architectural services), which account for the largest share of high-tech employees, are drawn to walkable and transit rich areas near central business districts. On the other hand, auto-centric locations on the peripheries are home to aerospace and bio-pharmaceutical industries. In light of these findings, it is essential that economic development officials aiming to achieve balanced growth consider major local high-tech sector(s) and sectoral differences when making policy decisions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CookeP.LeydesdorffL.Regional Development in the Knowledge-Based Economy: The Construction of Advantage. Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2006, pp. 5–15.
2.
AschauerDA.Is Public Expenditure Productive?Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1989, pp. 177–200.
3.
ElburzZ.NijkampP.PelsE.Public Infrastructure and Regional Growth: Lessons from Meta-Analysis. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 58, 2017, pp. 1–8.
4.
Arauzo-CarodJ.-M.Viladecans-MarsalE.Industrial Location at the Intra-Metropolitan Level: The Role of Agglomeration Economies. Regional Studies, Vol. 43, No. 4, 2009, pp. 545–558.
5.
AlbalateD.FagedaX.High-Technology Employment and Transportation: Evidence from the European Regions. Regional Studies, Vol. 50, No. 9, 2016, pp. 1564–1578.
6.
DelgadoM.PorterM. E.SternS.Defining Clusters of Related Industries. Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2015, pp. 1–38.
7.
ZandiatashbarA.HamidiS.FosterN.ParkK.The Missing Link between Place and Productivity? The Impact of Transit-Oriented Development on the Knowledge and Creative Economy. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2019, 415–429.
8.
FloridaR.The Rise of the Creative Class. Washington Monthly, Vol. 34, No. 5, 2002, pp. 15–25.
9.
ZandiatashbarA.HamidiS.Impacts of Transit and Walking Amenities on Robust Local Knowledge Economy. Cities, Vol. 81, 2018, pp. 161–171.
10.
KatzB.BradleyJ.The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2013.
11.
MaggioniM. A. Clustering Dynamics and the Location of High-Tech-Firms. Springer Science & Business Media, Secaucus, NJ, 2002.
12.
KasardaJ. D.New Logistics Technologies and Infrastructure for the Digitized Economy. Proc., 4th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation, Guayaquil, Ecuador, Citeseer, 2000, pp. 28–31.
13.
ZandiatashbarA.HamidiS.FosterN.High-Tech Business Location, Transportation Accessibility, and Implications for Sustainability: Evaluating the Differences between High-Tech Specializations Using Empirical Evidence from US Booming Regions. Sustainable Cities and Society, Vol. 50, 2019, p. 101648.
14.
ZandiatashbarA.Transit, Walkability, and Economic Development in the 21st Century: Explorations from the U.S. Specialized High-Tech Zones, Pivotal Industries, and Innovative Small Businesses. PhD dissertation. San Jose State University, CA, 2019.
15.
AudiracI.Information Technology and Urban Form: Challenges to Smart Growth. International Regional Science Review, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2005, pp. 119–145.
16.
PorterM. E.Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy. Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2000, pp. 15–34.
17.
BaptistaR.SwannP.Do Firms in Clusters Innovate More?Research Policy, Vol. 27, No. 5, 1998, pp. 525–540.
18.
HeadK.RiesJ.SwensonD.Agglomeration Benefits and Location Choice: Evidence from Japanese Manufacturing Investments in the United States. Journal of International Economics, Vol. 38, No. 3–4, 1995, pp. 223–247.
19.
GuimaraesP.FigueiredoO.WoodwardD.Agglomeration and the Location of Foreign Direct Investment in Portugal. Journal of Urban Economy, Vol. 47, No. 1, 2000, pp. 115–135.
20.
StorperM.VenablesA. J.Buzz: The Economic Force of the City. Journal of Economic Geography, 2004.
21.
WoodwardD.FigueiredoO.GuimaraesP.Beyond the Silicon Valley: University R&D and High-Technology Location. Journal of Urban Economy, Vol. 60, No. 1, 2006, pp. 15–32.
22.
Arauzo-CarodJ.-M.Liviano-SolisD.Manjón-AntolínM.Empirical Studies in Industrial Location: An Assessment of Their Methods and Results. Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2010, pp. 685–711.
23.
ZandiatashbarA.HamidiS.FosterN.ParkK.The Missing Link between Place and Sales Volume? The Impact of Transit-Oriented Development on the Knowledge and Creative Economy. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 32, 2019, pp. 415–429.
24.
HamidiS.ZandiatashbarA.Does Urban Form Matter for Innovation Productivity? A National Multi-Level Study of the Association between Neighbourhood Innovation Capacity and Urban Sprawl. Urban Studies, Vol. 56, No. 8, 2019, pp. 1576–1594.
25.
CreditK. N. Economic Development for the 21st Century: How Proximity to Transit and Walkability Influence Business Creation and Performance. PhD thesis. Michigan State University, 2018.
26.
DuncanC.WeisbrodG.MosesS.StevensJ.BrownM.The Role of Transit in Support of High Growth Business Clusters in the US. American Public Transportation Association, 2013.
27.
DuncanC.SteinN.BrownM.MosesS.GrisbyD.Public Transportation’s Role in the Knowledge Economy. APTA, Boston, MA, 2016.
28.
GranpayehvagheiT.BonakdarA.ZandiatashbarA.HamidiS.The Quest for Creative Industries: A Multilevel National Study of the Impacts of Urban Form on the Geography of Creative Industries. Transportation Research Record. Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019. 2673: 157–168.
29.
HamidiS.ZandiatashbarA.BonakdarA.The Relationship between Regional Compactness and Regional Innovation Capacity (RIC): Empirical Evidence from a National Study. Technologial Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 142, 2019, pp. 394–402.
30.
KimelbergS. M.NicollL. A.Business Location Decisions in the Medical Device Industry: Evidence from Massachusetts. Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2012, pp. 34–49.
31.
ShiltonL.StanleyC.Spatial Patterns of Headquarters. Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 17, No. 3, 1999, pp. 341–364.
32.
SassenS.Global City. Vol. 2. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1991.
33.
ZandiatashbarA.KayananC. M.Negative Consequences of Innovation - Igniting Urban Developments: Empirical Evidence from Three US Cities. Urban Planning, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2020, pp. 378–391.
34.
BakhshiH.McVittieE.SimmieJ.Creating Innovation: Do the Creative Industries Support Innovation in the Wider Economy?Nesta, London, 2008.
35.
JolliffeI. T.CadimaJ.Principal Component Analysis: A Review and Recent Developments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 374, No. 2065, 2016, p. 20150202.
36.
AnasA.ArnottR.SmallK. A.Urban Spatial Structure. Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 36, No. 3, 1998, pp. 1426–1464.
37.
HecklerD. E.High-Technology Employment: A NAICS-Based Update. Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 128, 2005, p. 57.
38.
TalenE.KoschinskyJ.Compact, Walkable, Diverse Neighborhoods: Assessing Effects on Residents. Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 24, No. 4, 2014, pp. 717–750.
39.
MohammadS. I.GrahamD. J.MeloP. C.AndersonR. J.A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Rail Projects on Land and Property Values. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 50, 2013, pp. 158–170.
KangS. Warehouse Location Choice: A Case Study in Los Angeles, CA. Journal of Transport Geography. Vol. 88, 2018.
42.
KawamuraK.Empirical Examination of Relationship between Firm Location and Transportation Facilities. Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2001. 1747: 97–103.
US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies. US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Publications and Reports Page. https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#qwi. Accessed July 31, 2020.
