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R&D HELPS DRIVE THE REGIONAL ECONOMY
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By Bryan Bezold
RCGA Director of Research and Chief Economist
During 2004, Washington University in
St. Louis ranked 5th in the nation among medical schools, with 885 NIH awards worth a total of $385 million. Washington University’s success as a medical research center is the most visible part of the region’s dynamic R&D sector, which generates jobs and income for St. Louisans today, as well as increased productivity and job growth in the future.
According to the National Science Foundation, the four research universities in the St. Louis region; Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,
The University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Washington University, spent a total of $545 million on science and engineering research during FY 2003 (the latest year for which data is available). A majority of that research, approximately $470 million, was spent on medical and life science research, but the local research universities have other types
of research projects as well. The FY 2003 total of $545 million represents growth of $238 million, or 77 percent, from the 1998 level of $306 million. Five-year growth of
77 percent makes academic R & D expenditures one of the faster growing sectors of the
St. Louis economy.
The strong local academic research base is complemented by private sector R & D. According to the U.S. Bureau of labor statistics, 5,500 St. Louisans are employed at 140 different scientific research and development firms. These jobs have an immediate benefit to the St. Louis economy, as the average weekly wage at these firms is $2,125, well above the regional average of $743.
The private sector R & D component of the region’s economy is more than just dedicated R & D firms, however. Several of the major companies in the regions also have significant research functions here. Pfizer, for example, has designated its St. Louis site as it’s global center for biopharmaceutical research.
The economic benefits of research & development activity accrue over both the short and long run. In the short run, the research activity here boosts payrolls, and the household spending of scientists in St. Louis supports high and low skilled employment in other jobs around the region. The household spending of the 5,500 people at the 140 research firms, for example, supports another 4,300 jobs throughout the region.
The longer-term benefits are multi-dimensional. As technologies developed here, and elsewhere, mature, they can help boost the productivity of the economy, either by making people healthier and more productive, or by developing new technologies that make businesses more productive.
The other dimension of R & D’s long-term economic impact is the companies that
grow out of groundbreaking research. Commercializing the research that takes place in St. Louis is essential to the region’s long-term economic future, and local institutions have rallied around that goal. Monsanto was instrumental in the development of both the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise. The Nidus Center is a business incubator for plant and life science firms. The Center for Emerging Technologies, jointly supported by the City of St. Louis and UM-St. Louis, is another such incubator, but not focused strictly on emerging plant & life sciences businesses. UM-St. Louis is also in the process of developing another business incubator; one focused on IT startup companies, adjacent to its campus.
Scientific & Engineering Research Expenditures at Saint Louis University, UM-St. Louis, SIU-Edwardsville & Washington University
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