Do colleges and universities have a role in local and regional economic development?

It has become almost hackneyed to suggest that we now live in a knowledgebased economy. Firms prosper and die based on their ability to add intellectual value to their products and services. Even in mature industries, such as manufacturing, the application of knowledge to enhance production techniques and increase productivity has been fundamental to competitive success. With the pace of economic change accelerating, economic development strategies that emphasize having the best human capital available to adapt to change continue to gain favor. Noted economist Edward Glaesser has demonstrated that communities with the highest educational attainment continue to adapt and prosper across differing economic eras. Glaesser’s study of the Boston economy found that it was largely due to the significant human capital in the city that Boston has been able to re-invent itself to succeed in differing economic conditions