Institut für Öffentliche Dienstleistungen und Tourismus

1. The role of universities for regional labour markets: the example of central SwitzerlandSimone StraufDr. Roland SchererSzczecin, April 2007 Institut für Öffentliche Dienstleistungen und Tourismus

2. Central issues • What are the key factors contributing to the positive economic development of a region? What role do universities play? • Concept of the “learning region” • What methods are there to measure the economic impact of universities on a region? • Example of universities in central Switzerland: how can the universities contribute to improving both the regional labour market and the quality of the region as a business location: • University as employer • Educational function (training and further education) • Knowledge transfer • Brain drain – brain gain • Added regional value • Conclusion

3. Current research status – Methodological approaches

4. Porter‘s diamond model for the competitiveness of regions

5. Labour market • Qualified Contributing factors Customers labour force • Intensive problemsolving • High-quality demand • Knowledge transfer support • Innovation cluster • Impetus for innovation (“pull”) ( “push“) Expertise and skills Information and Specialisation of overall knowledge transfer conditions • Consultants • Administrative expertise - Informal information • Research and • Specific transport and and knowledge transfer educational institutions communications - • Informal discussions infrastructure • Conferences Regional skills and expertise

6. Methods of identifying regional economic effects

7. Analysis methods to identify regional economic effects of infrastructure facilities • Input-output analysis • Cost-benefit analysis • Mathematical finance • Incidence analysis • Network approach • Method used: • Combination of incidence analysis and network approach

8. Regional economic effects of infrastructure facilities (e.g. universities)

9. Case study: Central Switzerland

10. Where is Switzerland located and what is typical? Switzerland

11. Where is Central Switzerland located? Central Switzerland

12. Universities in Switzerland Universities in Central Switzerland

13. Numbers of students at the universities in central Switzerland Total: 6,200 students

14. The effects of the universities on the regional labour market

15. University as employer • 1,000 people are employed by the three universities (full-time positions) • The universities together are among the five largest employers in the canton of Lucerne (quantitative aspect) • Most of employees have a tertiary educational degree. • The percentage of highly-qualified residents has increased (qualitative aspect) • Also students are visible on the regional labour market: about 75% of the students hold jobs while they are studying.

16. Educational level of the population 1998 and 2004 Percentage of the population between 25 and 34 with a university degree

17. Educational effects

18. Proportion of diploma / bachelor degrees in 2005

19. Knowledge transfer • Networking with regional players • Specialists from companies have part-time contracts as lecturers • Companies make use of the universities for further education • Universities have service contracts to address issues and problems stemming from the business sector • Students create networks with companies • Graduate organisations (alumni) • Companies are active in university committees, university members are active in associations and public committees • Knowledge Transfer Centres, Academy of Applied Sciences

20. Knowledge transfer - student contacts to companies and institutions

21. Brain gain – brain drainLocation of students after graduation

22. Net brain drain – brain gain Net brain-drain brain gain in proportion to the number of highly-qualified individuals percentage

23. How to explain brain drain vs. brain gain?

24. Employment rate of new graduates

25. Employment rates of graduates after 1 and 5 years

26. Gross annual income by region

27. Regional added value

28. Conclusions • Highly qualified individuals are attracted (brain gain) and they play a role in preventing the brain drain. • Knowledge transfer through university involvement (national and international, by students and employees) • Strong networks between the universities as well as with companies, cultural institutions and other areas • Structural effects: companies make good use of the supply of graduates in both quantitative and qualitative terms. • Total additional revenues triggered in 2005 reached € 72 million for the canton of Lucerne. • The appeal of Central Switzerland as a business location is enhanced. • The economic power increases and the universities contribute to boosting the buying power

29. How can the effects of the universities on the regional labour market be increased? • The effects of universities on the regional labour market can be very different depending on the structure of the region. • Simply having jobs available is not the only criterion for attracting highly-qualified individuals to a region. • Universities, companies and politicians share joint responsibility for creating the overall conditions to increase brain gain and prevent brain drain.