Harvard Business Professor Michael Porter is widely recognized for his research in the competitiveness of cities, states, regions, and nations. His studies have emphasized clusters, specialized skills, infrastructure, and commerce as distinguishing factors that delineate the prosperity of these areas.
Most recently Porter measured the performance of clusters within each of the states at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting 2011 (February 26). At that meeting he talked about strategies that would allow the states to become more competitive in the future .
In addition, Porter prepared economic profiles for each of the 50 states. The 50-slide PowerPoint presentations, which were released at the NGA meeting, are formatted in a way that allows for easy comparisons between the states.
For example, it is to match Colorado’s biotech cluster against others in the nation. In 2008, Colorado was ranked 25th in biopharmaceuticals, with 2,032 employees and 11th in medical devices with 13,440 workers.
Each presentation begins with a performance snapshot with a position and trend ranking, by quintile, in five key areas. As well, Porter identified the “strong” clusters for each state.
Colorado’s overall prosperity rating was in the second quintile; however, it was rated in the 4th trend quintile. Essentially the state has strong output per capita; however, it is trending downward. This might suggest Colorado’s competitive position might be in jeopardy.
A second area of possible concern is labor mobilization (labor force/civilian population). On a positive note, Colorado is in the top ten; however, it is in the fourth trend quintile. Again, this is a strength that is trending downward.
There is better news for Productivity (average private wages) and Innovation (Patents per 10,000 workers). Colorado was ranked in the second quintile in both strategic categories. From a trend perspective it was also in the second quintile. These are areas where the state has maintained its strengths and remained competitive.
Finally, the state was ranked in the second quintile for cluster strength and in the top trend quintile. This points to increased strength, as defined by greater market share, in its “strong clusters”.
Porter identified Colorado’s top five clusters as:
• Business Services
• Distribution Services
• Entertainment
• Oil and Gas Products and Services
• Aerospace Vehicles and Defense.
The presentation highlights subtle strengths and weaknesses not mentioned in this brief overview. As such, it is recommended reading for any one interested in understanding the opportunities and challenges Colorado might face moving forward.
©Copyright 2011 by CBER.