Recent Publications

California has the opportunity to capture a significant share of CHIPS Act funding, but competition will be intense and other states (Texas, New York, Arizona, Oregon and Ohio among others) are already shaping their own initiatives. Succeeding at a level that meets the state’s potential will require a strategy, a proactive outreach, and a well-organized partnership between the state, local governments, the business and economic development community, universities (including the University of California, CSU, and community colleges), and workforce development agencies.

To investigate the business tax landscape across the Bay Area, the Institute analyzed the 20 largest job centers across the southern five counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara). The analysis that follows summarizes business tax structures and rates across the region using three hypothetical companies.

The outcome of the just-concluded Party Congress offers little reassurance that the Chinese and American economies won’t continue to diverge, and a continuing deterioration is the coming years is likely unless a new floor can be put under the relationship. The meeting of President Biden with China’s President Xi Jinping in Bali in November may have accomplished that, though careful management by both sides will be needed. Either way, the Bay Area’s economy will remain closely entwined with China’s even if the scope of that engagement continues to narrow

Supporting multilingual learning among California’s youngest children can improve educational outcomes, boost household incomes, and give California companies the edge needed to compete on the world stage.

A small economy by regional and global standards, Jordan benefits from several advantages as a business and ICT platform: a stable political environment, close ties with the United States, a highly educated workforce with a substantial pool of experienced engineers, government policies that prioritize education, active support for women in the workplace, and an entrepreneurial culture that generates a disproportionately large number of regional technology startups.

Gilead is the second largest biotech employer in the Bay Area and is the 18th largest private sector employer in the region, creating high-value products and employment opportunities at all income levels.

Much of the detailed planning for how to address these challenges is taking place at the regional and local level. The state supports those efforts by encouraging regional-scale collaboration, supporting local planning and adaptation projects, providing data and analysis, and enhancing public awareness of sea level rise risks and impacts.7 Much of this occurs through the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), a high-level state government panel created in part to protect ocean health in the face of climate change. Based on evolving scientific knowledge, the OPC develops state-level approaches that respond to the anticipated impacts of storms, erosion and sea level rise on coastal communities.

From this high-level review, it appears that despite some attrition in corporate innovation offices the global innovation presence remains strong.

There have been numerous studies bolstering the case for residential development near transit stations. Less understood, however, are the benefits of commercial development near transit and what increased office and retail space along key transit corridors could mean for the Bay Area’s transit system, regional labor force, and economy more broadly.

The especially large local multiplier for the high-tech sector reflects the fact that workers in these industries have higher levels of disposable income, which is spent on meals, transportation, housing, and other services in the local community. It also reflects the fact that hightech companies tend to cluster around one another, which attracts additional high-tech firms and the local service providers that support their business activities.