Publications List | Bay Area Council Economic Institute

The Economic Institute produces economic policy analyses on Bay Area and California issues, and economic impact analyses for public and private sector clients. A chronological list of the PDF versions of Bay Area Council Economic Institute publications appears below with the newest reports listed first.

Chronological List of Publications

Accelerating Job Creation in California Through Infrastructure Investment: Opportunities for Infrastructure Asset Formation and Job Creation Using Public-Private Partnership Procurement Methods
A Bay Area Council Economic Institute White Paper produced in order to catalyze a stronger focus on the opportunities for job creation in California through infrastructure investment, and through public-private partnerships in particular.
—January 2012 (PDF: 21 pages, 746 KB)
Benchmarking the Bay Area’s Environment for Entrepreneur-Led Start-ups
This report was developed by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute based on a survey by Monitor Group, a leading global business consultancy, in order to assess the quality of the environment in the San Francisco Bay Area for entrepreneur-led start-ups.
—October 2011 (PDF: 62 pages, 7 MB)
Roadmap to a High-Value Health System: Addressing Califoria’s Healthcare Affordability Crisis
This “roadmap” outlines a series of concrete strategies for leveraging California’s power as an innovator to control rising healthcare costs for businesses and individuals. The report lays out the specific actions by healthcare providers, insurers, businesses, governments, and individuals that will improve affordability and access to high quality care in California.
—October 2011 (PDF: 44 pages, 1.2 MB)
Options for Financing the Restoration of San Francisco Bay Wetlands
This analysis summarizes recent reports on wetlands restoration and finance in the San Francisco Bay Area, identifies options for financing wetlands restoration, and assesses which options appear most feasible.
—July 2011: Full Report (PDF: 116 pages, 5.5 MB)
—July 2011: Extract of Executive Summary Only (PDF: 14 pages, 144 KB)
Employment in the Bay Area’s Emerging Clean Economy
A brief by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute presenting Bay Area data from the Brookings Institution study entitled Sizing the Clean Economy
—July 2011 (PDF: 20 pages, 949 KB)
World Expo 2020, Silicon Valley – USA: Economic Impacts
—February 2011 (PDF: 44 pages, 1.2 MB)
International Trade and the Bay Area Economy: Regional Interests and Global Outlook 2010–2011
—December 2010 (PDF: 68 pages, 2.1 MB)
Global Competitiveness, China and California’s Emerging Clean Energy Economy
This white paper presents California’s climate and energy policies in a global setting, asking whether there is a clear linkage between policy and the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.
—December 2010 (PDF: 52 pages, 1.2 MB)
Framework Conditions for Foreign and Domestic Private Investment in California’s Infrastructure: Seizing the P3 Opportunity looks at the conditions in the state that will either hinder or enable its ability to attract private finance and management to help build California’s infrastructure.
—September 2010 (PDF: 44 pages, 1 MB)
The America’s Cup: Economic Impacts of a Match on San Francisco Bay
A collaboration between the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Beacon Economics, this report endeavors to provide estimates of the economic benefits of bringing an America’s Cup match to the Bay Area.
—July 2010 (PDF: 62 pages, 5.6 MB)
Public-Private Partnerships: Alternative Procurement Methods for Campus Development in the University of California System offers a model for how UC can accelerate campus development through the creative use of private finance and management.
—June 2010 (PDF: 25 pages, 1.3 MB)
Recession and Recovery: An Economic Reset
This report is the seventh in the series of biennial Bay Area Economic Profile reports that benchmark the region’s economic performance against other cities and regions, in the U.S. and globally, with which we compare and sometimes compete. This document continues the practice of recent reports by analyzing the structural forces at work in the economy that will make it more or less competitive. As the Bay Area emerges from a damaging recession, our ability as a region and a state to understand and address these trends is urgent.
—April 2010 (PDF: 76 pages, 1.7 MB)
Global Reach: Emerging Ties Between the San Francisco Bay Area and India
Based on more than two years of research and nearly 200 interviews in both the Bay Area and India, this report documents the historical, cultural, educational, trade and investment links between the two economies and makes a convincing case for the distinctiveness of the Bay Area-India connection and the wide range of business and other opportunities that it presents.
—November 2009: Full Report (PDF: 2962 pages, 5.2 MB)
—November 2009: Extract of Executive Summary Only (PDF: 14 pages, 245 KB)
—Printed copies of the report book are available on request for a suggested donation of $15. Please email your request and contact information, including phone number, to bacei@bayareacouncil.org
Managing Recession: Strategic Responses to the Economic Downturn
In response to one of the world’s most challenging economic cycles, the Economic Institute and Booz & Company have partnered to understand more deeply how Bay Area businesses are managing through the recession. Through interviews with leading Bay Area executives across a range of industries, including both large established companies and newer entrepreneurial start-ups, we identify how the recession has manifested itself regionally, emerging trends in defensive and offensive business strategies, and public policy priorities that could mitigate the recession’s impact and support future growth and competitiveness.
—July 2009: Full Report (PDF: 52 pages, 1.2 MB)
—April 23, 2009 Summary Presentation at the Bay Area Council Outlook Conference 2009 (PDF: 14 pages, 1 MB)
California High-Speed Rail: Economic Benefits and Impacts in the San Francisco Bay Area
The proposed California high-speed rail project has been designed to provide fast, efficient transportation between California’s major urban centers, linking Los Angeles and San Francisco through the rapidly-growing Central Valley.
—October 2008 (PDF: 44 pages, 2.3 MB)
The Innovation Driven Economic Development Model: A Practical Guide for the Regional Innovation Broker
Prepared as part of a collaboration in which the Economic Institute and BASIC are participants, this report describes an innovation-driven economic development model based on the new realities of globalization and the changing nature of the innovation process.
—September 2008: Full Report (PDF: 64 pages, 1.9 MB)
—September 2008: Executive Summary (PDF: 17 pages, 498 KB)
Human Capital in the Bay Area: Why an Educated, Flexible Workforce Is Vital to Our Economic Future
Human capital, commonly understood as the collective level of education, skill and experience of a region’s labor force, is one of the most fundamental building blocks of high-value-added economies. This report analyzes indicators of human capital in the Bay Area, and identifies what is distinctive about the Bay Area’s workforce.
—February 2008 (PDF: 68 pages, 730 KB)
Toward a California Trade and Investment Strategy: Potential Roles for the State in Global Market Development
Prepared at the request of the California Department of Business, Housing and Transportation, this study provides the foundation for a new California international trade and investment strategy delivered to the Legislature in 2008.
—October 2007 (PDF: 100 pages, 906 KB)
Innovative Energy Solutions from the San Francisco Bay Area: Fueling A Clean Energy Future
The second in the BASIC Science Futures series, this comprehensive first-of-its-kind report on major alternative energy technologies highlights the region’s leadership in contributing to California’s and the nation’s agenda for achieving energy independence and addressing global warming.
—July 2007 (PDF: 92 pages, 986 KB)
BASIC Innovators Series, Number 2
This second issue in the BASIC Innovators interview series features Nobel Prize winner and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Steven Chu, one of the most prominent and vocal of all the scientific figures to address the energy crisis.
—Summer 2007 (PDF: 6 pages, 2.4 MB)
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Measures to Reduce the Economic Impacts of a Drought-Induced Water Shortage in the SF Bay Area
Prepared by the Bay Area Economic Forum and Public Financial Management (PFM) for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), this report analyzes the potential economic costs of drought-induced water cutbacks in the Hetch Hetchy system and options for how to mitigate them.
—May 2007 (PDF: 53 pages, 477 KB)
Bay Area Innovation Network Roundtable: Identifying Emerging Patterns of the Next Wave of Innovation
A report from BASIC on a day-long roundtable symposium convening seminal thinkers representing a broad spectrum of public and private research and development institutes and enterprises to focus on identirying a new and emerging patterns and key drivers for the next wave of innovation.
—April 2007 (PDF: 28 pages, 1 MB)
Shared Values, Shared Vision: California’s Economic Ties with Canada
California and Canada maintain broad, deep and longstanding commercial ties that grow out of some remarkable similarities. This report discusses the characteristics that have generated considerable cross-border economic activity and have enabled both countries to leverage important comparative advantages.
—March 2007 (PDF: 52 pages, 377 KB)
Ties That Bind: The San Francisco Bay Area’s Economic Links to Greater China
An examination of The San Francisco Bay Area’s business, economic, educational, historical, and cultural ties to China, documenting the depth and breadth of the region’s engagement with China and the business and other channels that have made the Bay Area the nation’s leading portal for U.S.-China exchange.
—November 2006 (PDF: 168 pages, 2.5 MB)
BASIC Innovators Series, Number 1
Produced by the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC), this first issue in the Innovators interview series features Dr. Regis B. Kelly, Executive Director of the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3), and Dr. Robert J. T. Morris, Vice President, Assets Innovation, IBM Global Services.
—October 2006 (PDF: 8 pages, 746 KB)
The Innovation Edge: Meeting the Global Competitive Challenge
A series of essays by nationally recognized thought leaders on business, technology and the global economy, addressing the challenges posed by global competition to U.S. leadership in science and technology, and ultimately to the U.S. economy.
—September 2006 (PDF: 66 pages, 1 MB)
Investing in California’s Infrastructure: How to Ensure Value for Money and Protect California’s Competitive Position in the National and Global Economy
—June 2006 (PDF: 76 pages, 997 KB)
Employer Mandates and the Health Care Crisis: Economic Impacts in California and the Bay Area
Study Finds Government Mandates Do Not Achieve Goal of Universal Health Care and Will Likely Cost Low Wage Earners Jobs
—January 2006 (PDF: 18 pages, 224 KB)
International Trade and the Bay Area Economy: Regional Interests and Global Outlook 2005–2006
—July 2005 (82 pages, 1.7 MB)
Visas for Higher Education and Scientific Exchanges: Balancing Security and Economic Competitiveness
A discussion about the impact on economic competitiveness of visas and immigration policies implemented since 9/11, particularly as they impact graduate students and scientists coming to this country from overseas.
—April 2005 (PDF: 18 pages, 369 KB)
One Million Jobs at Risk
The Future of Manufacturing in California
—March 2005 (PDF: 30 pages, 352 KB)
Economic Impacts of Competitive Air Service at San Francisco International Airport
Growing air traffic at SFO is a positive sign for the recovery of the Bay Area economy.
—November 2004 (PDF: 8 pages 448 KB)
The Future of Bay Area Jobs: The Impact of Offshoring and Other Key Trends
Study Finds Offshoring Less Important Than Other Factors to Job Creation and Destruction in the Bay Area
—July 2004 (PDF: 44 pages, 601 KB)
Supercenters and the Transformation of the Bay Area Grocery Industry: Issues, Trends, and Impacts
This report on supercenters (large discount stores that include full-scale groceries) analyzes the regional impacts of these facilities, and the factors that local governments and commuities whould take into account when considering their siting.
—January 2004 (PDF: 108 pages, 859 KB)
Nanotechnology in the San Francisco Bay Area: Dawn of a New Age
First in the BASIC Science Futures series of reports highlighting the local achievements and prospects in newly evolving areas of scientific research that have the potential to stimulate new waves of scientific and commercial success in the Bay Area.
—January 2004 (PDF: 40 pages, 929 KB)
Meeting the Challenge of Homeland Security, 2nd Edition
—October 2003 (PDF: 146 pages, 736 KB)
The first edition of this report, covering Highlights of the Bay Area’s Research and Development Capabilities Related to the Critical Mission Areas of the Department of Homeland Security, was issued in November 2002: (PDF: 51 pages, 487 KB)
Hetch Hetchy Water and the Bay Area Economy
—October 2002 (PDF: 60 pages, 2.3 MB)
Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy — Crisis in Air Travel: Weathering the Downturn
—January 2002 (PDF: 23 pages, 249 KB)
International Trade and the Bay Area: Air Cargo, Technology and the Economy of Silicon Valley
—September 2001 (PDF: 4 pages, 52 KB)
Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy—Phase Two
—November 2000 (PDF: 52 pages, 653 KB)
Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy—Phase One
—January 2000 (PDF: 57 pages, 596 KB)

In addition, links to the full sets of reports in three ongoing series can be found on the following pages:

Reports Archive: Bay Area Economic Profile
Reports Archive: International Trade and the Bay Area Economy
Reports Archive: Electric Power