Similarities and Differences in the National Indices

Even when indices are trying to measure the same activity or characteristic this may be done utilizing different measures and some indices may include indicators not used in others. A matrix presenting the common indicators among the national indices is available here. Examples of these differences and similarities follow: (Please note that not all indicators for all indices are mentioned.)

Education

All indices use some measure of the educational attainment of the workforce or population. OTP and Milken include measures of standardized test scores. Milken and CED use measures of spending on education, while OTP, Milken, CED and Beacon Hill look specifically at students and graduates in science and engineering fields. For example, OTP uses a measure of the percent of the civilian workforce with a recent bachelor’s, masters or Ph.D. in science and engineering. CED and Beacon Hill look at the overall number of science and engineering graduate students.

Workforce Composition

All indices except Beacon Hill and CED measure the percent of employment in high-tech jobs. CED and Milken use as a measure the number of Ph.D. scientists and engineers in the workforce, while Beacon Hill and PPI look at all scientists and engineers in the labor force. PPI specifically looks at employment in information technology (IT) jobs in non-IT industries, as well as measuring managers, professional and technical jobs. Beacon Hill and CED include the unemployment rate in their indices, while OTP includes the labor force participation rate.

Business Environment

All indices include a measure of patent activity. OTP and Milken look at the number of business incubators, while CED looks at university spin-offs. All indices use a measure of the number of high-tech companies in the economy as well as measures of new businesses. OTP and Milken include measures as to the number of Technology Fast 500 and Inc. 500 companies. CED specifically includes sectoral diversity through a score based on the Herfindahl index.

R&D and Funding

All indices include a measure of industry R&D, while all but PPI and Beacon Hill look at federal and university R&D dollars. Milken includes specific measures on R&D expenditures on engineering, physical sciences, environmental sciences, math and computer science and life sciences. Milken and Beacon Hill include NSF funding while OTP, Milken and CED include SBIC and SBIR awards. Beacon Hill includes NHI support.

Venture Capital

All indices include measures concerning venture capital. PPI’s measure is venture capital invested as a percentage of gross state product, as is OTP's. Beacon Hill’s measure is venture capital on a per capita basis while Milken uses a measure of the number of companies receiving VC investment and venture capital investment growth. CED looks a venture capital dollars per worker.

Connectivity

OTP, Milken, CED and Beacon Hill include a measure for the number of households with computers. PPI includes a measure for the percentage of population with Internet access while OTP, Milken and Beacon Hill look at a percent of households with Internet access. PPI also includes a measure for broadband deployment.

Quality of Life

Beacon Hill and CED include numerous quality of life factors in the measurements. Some examples are CED including poverty rates, infant mortality, teenage pregnancy, crime rates, and homeownership rates. Beacon Hill includes crime rates, travel time to work, infant mortality rate and percent of population without health insurance.