Innovation
Costs to Businesses
The Costs to Businesses subcategory includes one measure of business costs including taxes and one of business taxes. Business costs should not be viewed in isolation. Many of the highest-cost areas also have a highly perceived quality of life. The quality of life in a community is a significant feature of the innovative environment. Innovative companies and their employees place considerable value on the many conditions — such as educational availability and quality, transportation and other infrastructure, entertainment and recreational opportunities, public safety, and environmental quality — generally considered to be part of the quality of life. Other subcategories of the Innovation Indicators dashboard address some of these factors: Human Capital, which includes several measures of education, and Physical Infrastructure. However, most aspects of the quality of life are difficult to measure.
Caution is urged in interpreting these cost figures. Costs tend to be higher in popular areas with an otherwise high quality of life. Thus, the level of taxes and other costs is related to innovation only to the extent that the quality and quantity of public services and other quality-of-life components are equal across geographic areas. Innovative individuals and businesses flourish in many high-cost, high-tax areas, such as the California coast and Boston.
