This study investigates the impact of a tertiary education expansion on regional firm development, as measured by average profits per firm. We exploit the quasi-random establishment of universities of applied sciences (UASs)–bachelor’s degree-granting three-year colleges teaching and conducting applied research–to construct treatment and control groups and to apply both a difference-in-differences model and an event study design. We find that after the establishment of new UASs in Switzerland, average profits per firm in the treated municipalities increase by 19.6% more than in the control group. This increase corresponds roughly to an additional annual growth in average profits per firm in the treatment group of 0.7%. The effects start shortly after the establishment of UASs but also persist over a period of up to 10 years.
CITATION STYLE
Schlegel, T., Pfister, C., & Backes-Gellner, U. (2022). Tertiary education expansion and regional firm development. Regional Studies, 56(11), 1874–1887. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2021.2010695
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