UMaine Economist Finds Portland a ‘Thinking Region’
Contact: Todd Gabe, (207) 581-3307; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO, Maine — A new report on the knowledge economies of 287 cities in the United States and Canada shows that Portland, Maine, is a “Thinking Region,” according to Todd Gabe, professor of economics at the University of Maine and one of the study’s co-authors.
The paper, titled “Knowledge in Cities,” identifies groups of U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas with similar knowledge profiles.
“Our analysis came up with clusters such as Enterprising Regions – places like Chicago and Toronto with high knowledge about commerce and information technology – and Engineering Regions, which include San Jose and Calgary,” Gabe says. “All told, we identified eleven of these knowledge-based clusters.”
The group of Thinking Regions, which includes Portland, Maine, is noted for high knowledge about arts, humanities, information technology and commerce. Some of the other Thinking Regions in the study are New York; Philadelphia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Knoxville, Tennessee, according to Gabe.
Gabe, who has completed several studies on the knowledge economy, argues that information contained in the report can help explain differences in productivity and earnings across regions.
“The types of knowledge used in the workforce are important predictors of economic development, especially in cases where levels of college attainment are similar,” he says.
Although not part of the current study, Gabe notes that the knowledge economies of Portland and Bangor are quite different.
“The jobs available in Portland require much higher knowledge about computers, technology and business services, while Bangor is characterized by knowledge about health and social services,” he says. “This information clearly demonstrates the two Maines that people talk about.”
In addition to Gabe at the University of Maine, other researchers involved in the study include Jaison Abel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Adrienne Ross of the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, and Kevin Stolarick of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto.
The study is available at the websites of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Toronto-based think tank, Martin Prosperity Institute. The Martin Prosperity Institute, headed by noted author Richard Florida, will release the key findings of the study in its Insight publication on September 30, 2010.
Gabe will discuss results from his research on the Maine knowledge economy during a presentation at the Accelerate Maine conference in Bangor on Oct. 1.