
Simon Says: Connection between innovation and higher education?
In 2015, according to the latest year data available, there were 10 utility patents granted that originated in Richmond County. A recent study by Michael Andrews (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20200320), examines the role of higher education institutions, such as Augusta University and Georgia Tech, in local invention. Higher education institutions may affect invention directly by conducting research or indirectly by driving population growth. Ideally, to understand the role of higher education on economic development and innovation, we would want to randomly assign universities to locations and measure innovation and economic activity before and







