Pennsylvania Economy League
Greater Philadelphia’s Knowledge Industry: Part II
awards are totaled by region, Philadelphia institutions lag the national leaders in 8th place, accumulating only about 35 percent of the number of awards gathered by faculty at institutions in Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area (see Figure 11). Figure 11: National Academy of Sciences Members and Faculty Awards*, by Region, 1999
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Boston NECMA San Francisco CMSA New York CMSA Los Angeles CMSA Wash-Balt CMSA Chicago CMSA Philadelphia CMSA Raleigh-Durham MSA San Diego MSA Seattle CMSA
NAS Members 507 488 364 217 103 97 93 91 85 70
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
New York CMSA San Francisco CMSA Boston NECMA Los Angeles CMSA Chicago CMSA Wash-Balt CMSA 7. Raleigh-Durham MSA 8. Philadelphia CMSA 9. Detroit CMSA 10. Seattle CMSA
Faculty Awards 239 173 152 107 86 84 70 60 56 42
Source: PEL calculations based on data reported by the University of Florida, TheCenter (The Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance), The Top American Research Universities, July 2000. *Refer to Appendix C: Notes on Methodology for the list of faculty awards that make up this measure.
Generating Innovation: Translating Faculty Research into Ideas and Companies With nearly $666 million in R&D spending the region ranks 7th nationally in the amount of R&D funding at regional research institutions (Figure 12). However, there is a large gap between Greater Philadelphia and those it trails. It would take over $100 million dollars to catch number 6 (Raleigh-Durham), $490 million to overtake number 5 (Los Angeles), and over half a billion dollars to pass number 4 (Boston). Greater Philadelphia also lags behind other regions in the intensity of institutional research spending. In Greater Philadelphia, institutions spend $111/1,000 residents compared to Raleigh-Durham, where regional institutions spend $716/1,000 residents; Boston, where institutions spend $207/1,000 residents; and San-Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, where institutions spend $189/1,000 residents. As with the U.S. News rankings, the region’s research capacity rests largely on the shoulders of the University of Pennsylvania, whose spending accounts for 50 percent of overall regional R&D expenditures. In the leading regions, however, research activities are often driven by several institutions of Penn’s size and quality (most of which were placed at the top by the U.S. News rankings). While our region’s research universities offer a strong capacity for generating new knowledge and ideas, other regions are also focusing on this key element. According to data issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), even though regional R&D expenditures expanded by 66 percent between 1991 and 1998, most other regions’ R&D expenditures grew during this period as well. Just as competition has stiffened for top-ranking positions in teaching, institutions are competing more fiercely for increases in federal funding of university-based research. Furthermore, while the region ranks 7th , the remaining regions in the top 10 are not far behind in total R&D expenditures – conceivably, any slippage on the part of the Philadelphia region or significant gains made by other regions could take Philadelphia out of the top 10.
Philadelphia’s Position as a Knowledge Region
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