Productivity and Prosperity

The Contribution of Universities to Regional Economies


Kent Hill, Ph.D.
Principal Research Economist, L. William Seidman Research Institute
Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University Economist, and Director, L. William Seidman Research Institute

Summarizes the three ways that universities contribute to the local economy: as an economic base industry, as an institution of higher education, and as a research institution. Higher incomes of individuals and the community as a whole, higher-quality jobs, enhanced economic development, and improvements in prosperity and quality of life are all associated with the presence of universities in the community.


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Kent Hill, Ph.D.
Kent Hill, Ph.D.
Principal Research Economist, L. William Seidman Research Institute

After completing his undergraduate degree in economics at Wake Forest University, Kent received his Ph.D. in economics from Rice University in 1979. He was an assistant professor at ASU from 1978 to 1983. After leaving the university for seven years, during which he worked in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, he returned to ASU to teach in 1991. He joined ASU’s L. William Seidman Research Institute in 1999.

Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University Economist, and Director, L. William Seidman Research Institute

Dennis received a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Grand Valley State University, a M.S. in economics from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University in 1978. He has served on the faculty of the Department of Economics at ASU since 1979, as director of ASU’s L. William Seidman Research Institute since 2004, and as the director of the Office of the University Economist since 2005.


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