Dr. Timothy F. Slaper {slay-per} leads a research team engaged in industry and workforce analysis, regional economic growth and resiliency, measuring innovation, trade and foreign investment analysis, and measuring educational and training program performance. Timothy is the Principal Investigator for a U.S. Department of Commerce project on regional economic development. National in scope, the project will build a county-based data set and web tool for economic development practitioners, as well as policymakers and researchers, to assess a region’s innovative capacity, resilience and economic performance.
All the work that Timothy oversees puts analytical tools and practical research into the hands of economic development practitioners to help them address the challenges of economic development in today's rapidly changing world.
The Kauffmann Foundation and academic researchers alike have bemoaned the decline in business formation and E-ship in recent years. E-ship and innovation are considered major drivers of economic prosperity and growth. Is E-ship in decline and why? Is traditional measurement missing something?
Definition and measurement go hand in hand. How do we define E-Ship? Is it only motivated by opportunities in the marketplace? Is it motivated by the need of the entrepreneur to put food on the table? Does this matter? Is everyone with a side hustle an entrepreneur? A Lyft driver? Weekend wedding photographer? Are gig workers future entrepreneurs? How long do entrepreneurs retain their title as an entrepreneur? Is Bill Gates still an entrepreneur?
We review the official measures and sources of E-ship, from Census establishment counts to surveys (and the fact that response rates are falling). We review new sources and methods to find E-ship signals, from web-behavior to now-casting using Yelp to using Getty images and credit card transactions. We consider using internet archives – the Wayback Machine – for signals about company starts, closings and growth. We also highlight the role social media can play in tracking regional E-ship interest and networks. Finally, we outline an E-ship ecosystem modeling and data collection approach using complex adaptive systems, agent-based modeling and network analysis.
