Innovation Grants
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers two competitive programs to distribute federal research and development funds to small, high-technology, innovative businesses: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR, since 1983) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR, since 1998). The SBIR program encourages small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides an incentive to profit from commercialization. The STTR is a related program that is designed to facilitate the transfer of technological innovation from nonprofit research institutions to small commercial enterprises. It primarily is a program linking research universities to commercialization efforts.
The ability of the state to attract a significant share of SBIR grants is a reflection of the business climate for innovative activity. Monitoring the pace of SBIR grant activity may be a good way to gauge the extent to which the state’s entrepreneurial community is engaged in innovative entrepreneurship that can be wealth enhancing. The STTR program is one measure of the proclivity of the state’s research institutions to pursue opportunities for commercialized innovation initiatives.
Innovation grant data are displayed in three ways on Arizona Indicators: the number of grants per 1 million residents, the inflation-adjusted value of the grants per 1,000 residents, and the value of the grants per $1 million of gross domestic product. The inflation-adjusted dollars are expressed in terms of the latest year of data available.ss domestic product. The inflation-adjusted dollars are expressed in terms of the latest year of data available.
U.S. Small Business Administration: http://www.sbir.gov/past-awards. Annual national data are available from this site, but state totals must be calculated as the sum of the individual grants. The SBA enters the data grant by grant and displays incomplete information for the current and prior years. Data for earlier years likely have been revised.
Annual population estimates, expressed as of July 1, are produced by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau. The national and state estimates are released in December. The time series of population estimates is most easily accessed from the BEA: http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm.
The GDP deflator is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm. Click on the “Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables” link; the GDP deflator is in Table 1.1.9 (Section 1: Domestic Product and Income).
It is not possible to know if the data entry for a given year is complete. STTR grants may represent partnerships with universities outside the state.
Number of Grants Per 1 Million Residents
Visualization Notes:
The per capita number of SBIR grants increased substantially through 2002, both nationally and in Arizona, but has varied annually at a lower level since then. The 2013 figure was the lowest since the early 1990s nationally and in Arizona; the decline from the peak was 40 percent nationally and 56 percent in Arizona. Arizona’s figure relative to the national average has been lower in all but one year since 2003, including 2013 at 20 percent lower.
The per capita number of STTR grants increased through 2004, both nationally and in Arizona, but has been lower since then nationally and has been lower in recent years in Arizona. The 2013 value was 35 percent lower than the peak nationally and 42 percent lower in Arizona. Arizona’s figure has fluctuated from above to below the national average. The 2013 value was 5 percent above average.
Value of Grants in Inflation-Adjusted (2013) Dollars Per 1,000 Residents
Visualization Notes:
The per capita inflation-adjusted value of SBIR grants increased substantially through 2004 nationally but has been lower since then. The 2013 value was 30 percent lower than the peak. Arizona’s figure generally has been below the national average; the differential in 2013 was 31 percent.
The per capita inflation-adjusted value of STTR grants increased through 2010 nationally but was 36 percent less than that in 2013. Arizona’s figure has varied from lower to higher than the national average since 2003; it was 13 percent lower in 2013.
Value of Grants Per $1 Million of Gross Domestic Product
Visualization Notes:
The value of SBIR grants per $1 million of GDP increased substantially through 2004 nationally, but has been lower since then. The 2013 value was 34 percent less than the peak. Arizona’s figure has varied from above to below the national average; it was 13 percent lower in 2013. The value of STTR grants relative to GDP increased through 2010 nationally; the 2013 value was 40 percent lower. Arizona’s figure has varied from lower to higher than the national average; it was 8 percent higher in 2013.
Data Source
U.S. Small Business Administration: http://www.sbir.gov/past-awards. Annual national data are available from this site, but state totals must be calculated as the sum of the individual grants. The SBA enters the data grant by grant and displays incomplete information for the current and prior years. Data for earlier years likely have been revised.
Annual population estimates, expressed as of July 1, are produced by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau. The national and state estimates are released in December. The time series of population estimates is most easily accessed from the BEA: http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm.
The GDP deflator is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm. Click on the “Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables” link; the GDP deflator is in Table 1.1.9 (Section 1: Domestic Product and Income).
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