An analysis of the role of government in the locational decisions of Cambridge biotechnology firms

Abstract

This dissertation examines the validity of what Prof. Noam Chomsky has referred to as the central role of the dynamic, entrepreneurial state sector in economic development. Through an examination of the role that government at three levels-local, state, and federal-has played in the locational decisions of firms in Cambridge's biotechnology industry, the impact of the state sector in the evolution of a critically important knowledge-intensive industry is explored. Interviews, surveys, and geographical analysis were conducted to evaluate the author's hypothesis. The answer demonstrated by the evidence presented herein is that the success of the Cambridge biotechnology cluster is indeed the outcome of a distinct set of local, state and federal government policy choices.