Living preferences of STEM workers in a high-tech business park of a peripheral region

Autor: Hooijen, Inge, Cörvers, Frank
Přispěvatelé: ROA / Human capital in the region, RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, RS: FdR Research Group ITEM, RS: GSBE - MACIMIDE
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
j11 - Demographic Trends
Macroeconomic Effects
and Forecasts

r11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth
Development
Environmental Issues
and Changes

STEM workers
demographic shrinkage
o18 - "Economic Development: Urban
Rural
Regional
and Transportation Analysis
Housing
Infrastructure"
r23 - "Urban
Rural
Regional
Real Estate
and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration
Regional Labor Markets
Population
Neighborhood Characteristics"
high-tech business park
living preferences
r58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy
life satisfaction
Popis: Despite the importance of STEM workers to regional economies, scientists and policymakers have a limited understanding of how to recruit this scarce target group, particularly in offering an attractive living environment. This case study uses self-reported overall life satisfaction to explore the living preferences of STEM workers employed at a high-tech business park (HTBP) in a demographically shrinking region in the southern periphery of the Netherlands. We argue that individuals’ self-evaluation of life satisfaction is a proxy for their individual utility and thereby indicates the preferred features of the geographical unit in which they reside. We relate the survey data of 420 employees at the business park to the specific characteristics of the municipalities they live in, complemented by qualitative data from 32 semi-structured interviews with these workers. We conclude that the average STEM worker at the HTBP prefers to reside in places of lower extraversion, which are often characterized by a suburban lifestyle, green areas, and open spaces, including a little touch of consumer amenities.
Databáze: OpenAIRE