Report Entrepreneurship among California’s Low-Skilled Workers By Magnus Lofstrom Apr 1, 2010 The number of self-employed in California has grown considerably over the last three decades. Those with a high-school diploma or less—the low-skilled—make up a significant portion of this growth. Is business ownership a stable and financially rewarding option for them? This report explores this group of entrepreneurs and finds most low-skilled business owners have lower annual earnings than do low-skilled wage-earners—despite working more hours per week.
Report The Dynamics of California’s Biotechnology Industry By Nikesh Patel, Junfu Zhang Apr 27, 2005 California is the birthplace of the U.S. biotechnology industry and home to a large share of the industry. The state accounts for 47 percent of national R&D spending on biotechnology and generates 53 percent of the nation’s biotech revenues. In this volume, the authors provide a detailed examination of the biotech industry in California. They look in particular at the relationship between venture capital and the formation of new firms, the entrepreneurs who start these firms, and the extent to which biotech firms are leaving California. Although more biotech establishments have moved out of California than have moved into the state, the authors point out that California’s strength in research, as well as its large share of the U.S. biotech industry, will continue to make it one of the most attractive places to form biotech companies. The state’s strong research capacity, long tradition of venture capital investment, and high quality labor pool already provide the necessary ingredients for a highly successful biotech economy.
Report High-Tech Start-Ups and Industry Dynamics in Silicon Valley By Junfu Zhang Jul 17, 2003 Silicon Valley's enterprising high-tech industries are driven by innovation, and each new wave of innovation is usually led by creative entrepreneurs starting new firms. However, after great economic success in the 1990s, Silicon Valley is now enduring a deep recession. To better understand the region's past successes and future prospects, the author examines business formation, growth, mortality, and migration in the valley during the 1990s, analyzing how the region's economy evolves and operates through these dynamic processes. He concludes by offering a number of specific recommendations for ensuring the vitality of the region.
press release Silicon Valley’s Skilled Immigrants Becoming Agents Of Global Economic Change, Survey Finds Apr 19, 2002
Report Local and Global Networks of Immigrant Professionals in Silicon Valley By AnnaLee Saxenian Apr 1, 2002 Foreign-born entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are becoming agents of global economic change, and their increased mobility is fueling the emergence of entrepreneurial networks in distant locations. In this report, AnnaLee Saxenian investigates this development by drawing on the first large-scale survey of foreign-born professionals in Silicon Valley. Focusing on first-generation Indian and Chinese immigrants, the report compares their participation in local and global networks both to one another and to that of native-born professionals. The results indicate that local institutions and social networks within ethnic communities are more important than national or individual characteristics in explaining entrepreneurial behavior. The report also suggests that the so-called brain drain from India and China has been transformed into a more complex, two-way process of "brain circulation" linking Silicon Valley to urban centers in those countries.
Report Silicon Valley’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs By AnnaLee Saxenian Jun 1, 1999 Immigration has always been an important policy issue for California, However, researchers and policymakers have focused most of their attention on low-skilled immigrants. This study focuses, instead, on the highly skilled immigrant entrepreneurs who are managing high-tech firms in Silicon Valley. Chinese and Indian computer scientists and engineers were running one-quarter of the region's high-tech firms in 1998. In that year alone, these firms accounted for nearly $17 billion in sales and over 58,000 jobs.
