What works? Regionale Auswirkungen von Hochschulgründungen und der Fall der neuen TU Oberösterreich

The economic effects of the establishment of new universities are not easy to prove because the direction of causality is not obvious. This study focuses on the results of scientific studies that solve this problem and can actually prove the causal effects of universities. In sum, there is little doubt that new universities and higher spending on universities lead to higher regional value added. Based on international and Austrian evidence, the following picture emerges: If one assumes that the new TU has 300 full-time employees and has the same effect on regional labour productivity as the existing universities do, then in the long term its establishment would induce an increase in gross value added of 249 to 500 euros per employee in the central region of Upper Austria per year. For Upper Austria as a whole, this means an increase in gross regional product of between 99 and 200 million euros per year.