Silicon Valley Syndrome - 15 Sept 2021

Olav Sorenson, Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, the Faculty Research Director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and a Professor of Strategy at UCLA, presented research exploring how expansion in the high-tech sector influences the broader economy of a region.

On the 15th of September we welcomed Erling Persson Visiting Professor Olav Sorenson in presenting a seminar about his latest research exploring how expansion in the high-tech sector influences the broader economy of a region. This seminar represented an integrative and important part of the House of Innovation's strategy to build a research environment through engagement with prominent guests and their work.

Visiting Professor Sorenson's research demonstrates that an infusion of venture capital in a region appears to cause: (i) a decline in the number of establishments and employment in non-high-tech industries in the tradable sector; (ii) an increase in entry and employment in the non-tradable sector; and (iii) a rise in income inequality in the non-tradable sector. Expansion in the high-tech sector, therefore, leads to a less diverse tradable sector and to increasing inequality in the region.

Professor Sorenson is the Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, the Faculty Research Director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and a Professor of Strategy at UCLA.

To explore his profile, check out both his House of Innovation and his UCLA profile pages.

This seminar was a part of the Academic Seminar Series offered in cooperation with the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship.