Collaborative Research: EAGER: PBI: Assessing Societal and Economic Impacts of Place-Based Innovation

This EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project develops a framework to measure the dynamics, intermediate outcomes, and broader socio-economic and environmental impacts of regional innovation programs. Large scale investments like the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program require more inclusive and comprehensive attention to the participants and the range of activities, including the development of supply chains. This project engages novel interdisciplinary perspectives to guide assessment and involves state of the art curation of data sources to manage and assess such investments in a timely manner. The team will design an evaluation system and data infrastructure to track outcomes from NSF Engine investments; this includes short-term enabling outcomes and intermediate outcomes that become inputs into building local capacities that will ultimately translate into the desired social and economic results. The team will design and begin to implement a public dashboard, which will help scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and the public deepen their commitment and engagement in economic development. This EAGER project develops a data intensive, multi-level analytical framework to determine the dynamics, intermediate outcomes, and broader socio-economic and environmental impacts of regional innovation programs. Such large-scale government investments defy standard geographic classifications requiring the need to geocode organizations, activity, and firms to situate them in a delineated catchment area where impact may be observed. This project engages novel interdisciplinary perspectives across the fields of public policy, economics, geography, and management to build the conceptual foundation guiding assessment and involves state of the art curation of myriad data sources to manage and assess such investments in a timely manner. The team will assemble a novel panel dataset of firms and organizations; these data will be geocoded to precise address location to understand the concentric zone of investment impact. The approach centers on tracing the micro-foundations of ecosystem activity, encompassing employment dynamics, supplier-buyer networks, and financial, innovative, and societal performance. The team will design and begin to implement a public dashboard, providing communities with immediate access to essential economic development metrics. This instrument will facilitate strategic adjustments informed by empirical insights and augment the capacity of communities to articulate their development narratives effectively. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.