Life Sciences Innovation as a Catalyst for Economic Development: The Role of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center

This report provides an up-to-date, independent evaluation of the $1 billion, 10-year Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) charged with the responsibility of carrying out its mission. The initiative was established in July 2008 by Governor Deval Patrick's Administration and the Legislature to encourage the growth of discovery and production in the life sciences, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostics, medical devices and bioinformatics in the Commonwealth. Based on the region's existing comparative advantage in life sciences research and development (R&D) emanating from the laboratories of its leading universities and medical institutions, this substantial infusion of public funds was undertaken with the ambitious goal of making this cluster of industry sectors the most successful in the world. This evaluation comes at a propitious time, given the state of fiscal affairs in the Commonwealth and the nation. Virtually every unit of government is scrutinizing the use of each tax dollar to ensure that public revenue is being spent effectively and efficiently. Put simply, our goal in this evaluation was to gather as much data as possible to assess whether the Commonwealth's sizeable commitment of public resources is paying off in the form of a life sciences "super cluster" capable of attracting massive amounts of investment dollars, generating well-paying jobs for Massachusetts residents and yielding additional tax revenue for the Commonwealth

Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers, Second Edition

Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers, Second Edition: Demographic Characteristics and Economic Footprint contains the most credible information to date on immigration in Massachusetts

The Albelda Clayton-Matthews Paid Family and Medical Leave Simulator Model Documentation

The basic strategy behind our approach to estimating the cost of a paid leave program in Massachusetts was to, as much as possible, base estimates of program costs on actual known leave-taking behavior, and where this was not possible, to estimate a range of program costs reflecting a range of reasonable assumptions about unknown aspects of behavior in the presence of a paid leave program. We wanted to be able to estimate the sensitivity of program costs estimates to these assumptions. We also wanted to be able to analyze the distribution of program benefits by demographic characteristics. Furthermore, we wanted users to be able to estimate the costs of similarly structured paid leave benefit programs in other states, to be able to have some control over the assumptions about behavior that affect program cost estimates, and to be able to undertake their own distributional analyses. We chose a simulation strategy as the best way to accomplish these goals. To obtain the best estimates possible about known leave-taking behavior, we use the Public Use Family and Medical Leave survey data collected by Abt Associates in 2012 for the Department Labor (referred to here as the DOL Survey) (McGarry, et al, 2013) to estimate behavioral models of leave-taking behavior conditional on the demographic characteristics of individuals, and use the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (hereinafter referred to as the ACS or ACS PUMS) to predict leave-taking behavior conditional on the demographic characteristics of individuals

Fueled by Technology Market Demand, Massachusetts Economic Growth Increases

The pace of economic growth in Massachusetts has picked up significantly, beginning in the fourth quarter of last year, reflecting improved worldwide markets for information technology equipment in the last half of 2005. This resurgence in technology markets helped reverse a deceleration in state economic growth that the state experienced between mid-2004 and the third quarter of 2005. The Massachusetts economy has performed better over the last six months than at any time since the current expansion began in the second quarter of 2003. The recent pace of expansion matched the long-term average growth in real gross state product of 3.6 percent over the 1975–2004 period

Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy

While the state’s economy is still growing, albeit at a much slower rate than in the 1990s, there is a risk of a serious deceleration of economic activity. The evidence we have still favors a “soft landing” for the economy, but the risks of recession appear to have risen substantially

Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy

The Massachusetts economy continued to create new jobs in 1999, despite tight labor markets. While there were only 1.6 percent more jobs in December 1999 than there were a year earlier, this is an impressive performance, considering that the working-age population has been growing by only one-half of one percent per annum for several years, and the unemployment rate averaged just 3.2 percent for the last two years

Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy

Over the course of the summer, the Massachusetts economy appears to have begun to turn the corner. In the first quarter of this year, gross state product, as measured by the current index for Massachusetts, experienced its ninth consecutive quarter of decline. In the second quarter, it was flat, and in the third quarter, managed to eke out a small gain, growing at an annualized rate of 0.4 percent. The shift in direction is being led by a recovery in demand for, and production of, technology products that began at the end of 2002, and has continued to gather momentum through the first three quarters of this year. The rebound is broadly based and includes spending by consumers and businesses, both here and abroad

Look for Little Growth in the First Half of 2006

The state’s economy remains stuck in slow gear, and may no longer even be moving forward. In the face of slow employment growth, a population and brain drain, a sharp spike in energy costs, volatile consumer confidence, housing prices that are clearly cooling, increasing federal budget deficits, trade deficits and rising interest rates, perhaps it’s good news that the economy has been able to grow at all

Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy

It all seems clear in hindsight: The national recession began last March and the state recession in December 2000. The difference in timing reflects the importance of technology production and the stock market to the Massachusetts economy

Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy

It all seems clear in hindsight: The national recession began last March and the state recession in December 2000. The difference in timing reflects the importance of technology production and the stock market to the Massachusetts economy