High-skill Industries Research Articles

Efficiency in Urban Governance towards Sustainability and Competitiveness of City : A Case Study of Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has successfully applied economic planning to guide the development of the country from an economy of agriculture and mining to a largely industrialised one. Now, with its sights set on attaining the economic level of a fully developed nation by 2020, the planning system must be made even more efficient and focused. It must ensure that every investment made in the country, contribute towards creating the desirable objective of a strong, modern, internationally competitive, technologically advanced, post-industrial economy. Cities in Malaysia must also be fully aware of the enormous competition it faces in a region with rapidly expanding and modernising economies, all contending for the same pool of potential international investments. Efficiency of urban governance is also fundamental issue in development characterized by sustainability, subsidiarity, equity, transparency and accountability, civic engagement and citizenship, and security. As described above, city competitiveness is harnessed through ‘city marketing and city management’. High technology and high skilled industries, together with finance, transportation, tourism, business, information and professional services shopping and other commercial activities, are the principal components of the nation’s economy, which must be developed to a level well beyond where it is now. In this respect, Kuala Lumpur being the premier city must play the leading role. Keywords—Economic planning, sustainability, efficiency, urban governance and city competitiveness.

Fixing the Borders (Without a Wall)

Last year witnessed mass demonstrations in favor of legalizing unauthorized immigrants juxtaposed with ongoing border patrols by Minuteman Project volunteers and strident punditry decrying our “broken borders.” Disparate as they were, this combination of voices sent a clear and unified message: “Something must be done.” After a year of debate and a set of competing bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate, both the pro-immigration and restrictionist camps were disappointed with the utter failure of Congress to do virtually anything except approve a border fence, which most likely will never be built in its entirety, if at all. Congress left unanswered how to deal with the estimated 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States and how to reduce the future flow of illegal immigration. With strong momentum for change, a mandate for bipartisan cooperation, and a brief window of opportunity before the 2008 presidential elections, the time is now to address these questions. To create an orderly, sustainable flow of immigration, Congress would do well to embrace issues that received little attention over the past year, yet will be crucial to the success of any reform project: how to decide whom to let in, how to fix a deeply flawed immigration bureaucracy, and how coordination with sending countries might help to ease migration pressure. What Congress decides on immigration policy will have a wide-ranging impact on the health of communities, on tax revenue, on the businesses and individual Americans who employ foreign-born workers, on competitiveness in high-skilled industries, on the ability of immigrants’ children and future generations to succeed in America, and on America’s identity as a nation of immigrants. The immigration policies that America pursues resonate around the world. As a superpower whose identity is rooted in the notion of itself as an immigrant nation, the United States stands as an example— both good and bad—to countries that only recently have begun to wrestle with the question of how to integrate large foreignborn populations. Indeed, the talk of building a border fence has sparked plans for new barriers in places as diverse as the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Should the United States choose a mainly restrictionist path, it is highly likely that many other nations would follow suit and crack down on their immigrant populations, intensifying ethnic conflict. Changes in U.S. immigration policy will have not only a symbolic effect around the globe, but also a real economic impact. Nations like the Philippines and Mexico, which depend on remittances sent home by migrant workers, would be hard hit if the gates close. In countries without the universities or industries where skilled immigrants and talented students can pursue their scientific or professional interests, human capital would be wasted—hurting not just the home country but the rest of the world. This interconnectedness also means that the United States cannot stop at its own borders when conceiving a new immigration policy; slowing the flow of illegal immigra-

Skilled Labor-Augmenting Technical Progress in U. S. Manufacturing

This paper examines the role of skilled labor in the growth of total factor productivity. We use panel data from manufacturing industries to assess the extent to which productivity growth in yearly cross sections is tied to industry shares of skilled labor inputs. We find robust evidence that productivity growth was increasingly concentrated in high-skill industries during a unique ten-year period beginning in the early 1970s. We do not find any positive association of productivity growth with new capital investment.

Skilled Labor-Augmenting Technical Progress in U.S. Manufacturing

This paper examines the role of skilled labor in the growth of total factor productivity. We use panel data from manufacturing industries to assess the extent to which productivity growth in yearly cross sections is tied to industry shares of skilled labor inputs. We find robust evidence that productivity growth was increasingly concentrated in high-skill industries during a unique ten-year period beginning in the early 1970s. We do not find any positive association of productivity growth with new capital investment.

The Industrial Resurgence of Southern California? Advanced Ground Transportation Equipment Manufacturing and Local Economic Development

Southern California is in a deeply rooted process of economic restructuring. Much of the region's manufacturing base is made up of two groups of industries: A declining aerospace–defense sector, and a low-wage, low-skill sweatshop sector. What are the prospects for creating a growing manufacturing base focused on high-wage, high-skill industries? In this paper we examine the opportunities presented by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $183 billion thirty-year capital improvement plan as the potential catalyst of a set of technological and manufacturing synergies that would reorient the regional economy towards a new advanced ground transportation equipment industry. We investigate the dynamics of agglomerated complexes of industry in general, and the institutional and infrastructural arrangements that create and sustain competitive advantage within regional economic systems. Next, we evaluate the potential for the successful development of a technologically dynamic advanced ground transportation equipment industry in Southern California. This central part of the analysis focuses on (a) the existing industrial assets of the region, (b) specific forms of institution building that need to be carried out in the interests of local economic development and high-quality job creation, and (c) the importance of building a cooperative, high-trust manufacturing system. We then offer suggestions for specific types of policy intervention that might foster new forms of local economic growth. We argue that a coordinated response by both the public and the private sectors could conceivably set the region on a successful new economic development trajectory.