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New
Report Card: State Lags in
Tools To Grow High-Tech Economy
MADISON—Wisconsin is losing ground on key measures
associated with building a “high-tech” economy, according to a new
report issued by Competitive Wisconsin, Inc. (CWI).
CWI’s sixth annual “report card,” Measuring Success:
Benchmarks for a Competitive Wisconsin, finds the state lags on
important indicators of financial, employment and knowledge-based
strength.
CWI President Mark Cullen noted, however, that “once again, our
quality-of-life statistics are encouraging.”
CWI is a nonpolitical consortium of agriculture, business,
education and labor leaders in Wisconsin who work together to focus
attention on the state’s competitiveness.
At a time when Wisconsin is trying to encourage high-tech
industries, and California, Florida and Harvard University have all
announced massive new initiatives in the life sciences, Wisconsin has
declined in the number of Ph.D.’s per million residents.
In 1997, it turned out almost 88 Ph.D.’s per million in science,
engineering, computer science and math.
By 2002, the number had fallen to 60.5 per million, according to
the National Science Foundation. Wisconsin
still produced relatively more doctoral scientists than the U.S. (54.4 per
million), but trailed Illinois (61.0), Iowa (82.7) and Michigan (62.0).
The reason lies in a five-year 30.3% decline in scientists here,
compared to smaller drops nationwide (15.1%) and in the surrounding
states. Of our neighbors,
Minnesota fell the most (29.1%), and Michigan the least (7.2%).
“Compared to the size of the labor force, the number of Ph.D.
scientists produced here or anywhere is small,” notes Todd A. Berry,
president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) and head of the
research team that prepared the CWI report.
“But, if we are ‘selling’ our science-research capacity to
the nation and the world, these figures should give pause.”
On a brighter note, Wisconsin continues to be strong on measures of
quality of life and workforce excellence, and has improved its tax
climate. These are some
Badger State “positives” from the report: n
Wisconsin’s state-local tax burden remained at
11.9% in 2002 and 2003, but that was down from 13.1% in 2000.
While the state remains a relatively high-tax state (second in the
region and above the national average), the Badger State’s five-year
decline of 0.9 percentage points was triple the national norm. n
Several quality-of-life measures continued to
improve. Wisconsin’s
violent crime rate continued to decline and was lowest in the region. The state’s poverty rate fell to 8.2%, which was well below
the nation (11.9%). And
Wisconsin remains affordable, with a cost of living 5% lower than the
national norm. n Some
measures of Wisconsin’s workforce excellence remain positive as well.
Fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics test scores were higher than
national averages in 2003. High
school graduation rates rose and were more than ten percentage points
above the nation, while scores on college entrance exams remained among
the highest in the nation. Several
“new economy” benchmarks merit attention and concern, however,
according to CWI and WISTAX researchers: n Venture
capital disbursements per worker here were $18.53 in 2002, down nearly 75%
from their peak in 2000. The
figure was also lower than all surrounding states, except Iowa, and was
nearly 90% lower than the national average.
“Investment capital is critical to spawning and growing new
ventures,” says CWI President Mark Cullen of Janesville. n Employment
in Wisconsin’s high-tech industries declined to 3.4% of its total
private employment. That
figure was lower than all surrounding states, except Iowa, and 38% lower
than the national norm (5.5%). n Research
and development spending was 1.56% of total state output in 2000,
unchanged from 1999 and 37% lower than the U.S. average.
The Badger State trailed Illinois (2.74%), Michigan (5.84%) and
Minnesota (2.31%) on this important indicator. n
The percentage of Wisconsin’s 25-or-older
population with a college degree declined slightly in 2002 to 24.7%.
The state remained below the U.S. average (26.7%) on this measure,
but was higher than Iowa and Michigan.
The CWI report rates 32 “competitiveness” measures in six
categories: economic health;
quality of life; workforce excellence; public sector; business climate;
and environmental quality. Each
indicator compares Wisconsin to its past, and to surrounding states and
the nation. Wisconsin’s
own trend is positive on 11 of the 32 measures, up from seven last year.
Compared to the region and nation, nine of the benchmarks are
positive, down from 13 last year. The
number of measures rated neutral (14) is double last year’s figure.
The national recession that began in March 2001 affected many of
the benchmarks as the economy remained sluggish into 2003.
Despite this, Wisconsin slightly improved its competitive position.
“By addressing some of our weaknesses, Wisconsin can become more
economically competitive, while retaining a high quality of life,”
concludes CWI President Mark Cullen.
The
CWI benchmarking study was funded with grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Wisconsin and Serigraph, Inc. Special
thanks go to Tim Cullen of Blue Cross and John B. Torinus of Serigraph. Copies
of “Measuring Success: Benchmarks for a Competitive Wisconsin” are avail-able for
$3, to cover shipping and handling, from WISTAX, 401 North Lawn Ave.,
Madison, WI 53704-5033. WISTAX
can also be reached at wistax@wistax.org and 608/241-9789.
o The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, founded in 1932, is the state’s oldest and most respected private government-research organization. Through its publications, civic lectures and school talks, WISTAX aims to improve Wisconsin government through citizen education. Nonprofit, nonpartisan and independently funded, WISTAX is not affiliated with any group—national, state or local—and receives no government support.
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