BBR Reports

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/14289

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Activities and Resources of the Galveston Bay
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 1971-12) Holstrum, Gary L.; Williams, W. Reed
Report on the benefits associated with activities and resources of Galveston Bay. Aggregates data from a variety of sources on the economic value of the Galveston Bay waters in three sectors: (1) recreation, (2) natural resources, and (3) industry and commerce. Prepared by the Bureau of Business Research for the Galveston Bay Project of the Texas Water Quality Board.
An Assessment of the Adult Entertainment Industry in Texas
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 2009-03) Kellison, J. Bruce; Busch-Armendariz, Noël; Jarrett, James E.
This project, a collaboration between the Bureau of Business Research (BBR) and the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at The University of Texas at Austin, assesses the socio-economic impact of Texas’ sexually oriented business industry on the Texas economy, analyzes the impact on Texas’ economy of the Adult Entertainment Fee (AEF) imposed by the Legislature in House Bill 1751, and provides recommendations for further regulating the sexually oriented business industry in Texas. Two files are available for download: an executive summary and the full report.
Asset-Based, Sustainable Local Economic Development: Using Community Participation to Improve Quality of Life Across Rural, Small-Town, and Urban Communities
(Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2022-06-22) Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Takasaki, Kara; Kellison, J. Bruce
We analyze survey data from 5,487 residents of 85 Texas communities, including rural communities, small towns, medium-sized cities, and the five largest urban centers, to model the influence of the degree of urbanity and rurality of a community as well as residents’ social position, values, and their satisfaction with local assets. The paper’s central argument is that a wide range of factors impact how community members think about their needs and thus should be considered in any community development process. This human-centered approach looks at how community specific factors impact economic and quality-of-life development project preferences in support of adapting community development decision-making processes according to the context of each community. For the sake of parsimony, this paper presents results for three community development project concepts: (1) renovating some downtown buildings as mixed-use facilities with retail shops and apartments, (2) opening a community health center, and (3) deploying gigabit high-speed fiber broadband internet in the downtown area. Our findings specifically highlight areas where participatory processes can be introduced to guide further interactions be- tween experts and community members to (1) identify groups in the community to bring into the process who may be most impacted by the choice of one intervention over another, and (2) target areas where further community discussion and deliberation is necessary around which community dialogues (round tables, town halls, workshops, etc.) could be facilitated.
Can the Texas Manufacturing Institute Operate Without State Appropriations?
(1997-12) Jarrett, James E.; Echeverri-Carroll, Elsie L.; Shrout, Lois
This project was undertaken to evaluate whether the Texas Manufacturing Institute (TMI) could operate without state appropriated funds. This feasibility study focused on alternative funding sources available to the TMI in lieu of state funding and how the "implementation of alternative funding would affect the mission, structure, and performance of TMI." The TMI is in the process of receiving the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC), a network established in September 1995 to provide technical expertise for small manufacturing facilities throughout the State of Texas. The TMAC operates with six regional offices and in conjunction with partnering institutions.
The Certified Capital Companies Economic Development Innovation: Missouri's Experience to Date
(2000-02) Jarrett, James E.
This report evaluates the Certified Capital Companies Economic Development Program (CAPCO), an innovative state government program for financing emerging companies in the State of Missouri. Certified capital company programs provide a state tax credit to insurance companies for providing venture capital to start-up and early stage businesses via intermediary firms.
Comparative High-Technology Industrial Growth: Texas, California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 1986) Campbell, John P.
To better understand the development of high technology industry in Texas, this monograph compares the high-technology industrial composition of Texas with that of California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Chapters examine interstate differences in high-technology industrial development by comparing (1) recent shifts in high-technology industry mix, (2) size distribution of firms, and (3) measures of locational specialization of labor, such as the ratio of production workers to scientists and engineers, levels of employee education, income distribution, and the comparative influence of education and work experience on earnings.
Cultivating Learning and Safe Environments: An Empirical Study of Prevalence and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment, Stalking, Dating/Domestic Abuse and Violence, and Unwanted Sexual Contact
(The University of Texas System, 2017-03) Busch-Armendariz, Noël B.; Wood, Leila; Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Kellison, J. Bruce; Sulley, Caitlin; Westbrook, Lynn; Olaya-Rodriguez, Deidi; Hill, Kathleen; Wachter, Karin; Wang, Alexander; McClain, T’Shana; Hoefer, Sharon
The Cultivating Learning and Safe Environments (CLASE) (pronounced ‘class’) project is a research study about University of Texas System students’ experiences with sexual harassment, stalking, dating/domestic abuse and violence, and unwanted sexual contact. As part of the study, the University of Texas System conducted the most in-depth survey of sexual assault and misconduct ever undertaken by an institution of higher education in the United States. The survey was completed by more than 28,000 students enrolled at 13 UT institutions across Texas. This report presents the findings of the survey, summarizes existing institutional direct programs that serve students, and reports strategic next steps. The report consists of 11 documents: two aggregate reports (one for academic institutions and one for health institutions), individual reports for the eight academic institutions in the study, and a summary infographic.
Dell Medical School Impact on Innovation: Biomedical and Life Sciences
(2022) Kellison, Bruce; Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Pogue, Gregory; Jarrett, James; Sternberg, Jeff; Takasaki, Kara; Oomman, Adriann
Innovating new ideas, products and technologies is a key goal and among the top outcomes of any medical school. When it launched in 2014, Dell Med’s inaugural dean talked often about innovative new approaches to its life sciences, education and community health initiatives. The BBR research team has employed a mixed-methods approach to analyzing, quantifying and presenting innovation outcomes from Dell Med. This report is a synthesis of interviews (see Appendix for interview list) with key personnel at Dell Med and UT Austin involved in translating research into innovations that can be commercialized, as well analysis of data provided by UT Austin’s Office of Technology Commercialization. By exploring quantitative data and qualitative responses from key stakeholders, an important role for Dell Med is defined in the innovation ecosystem both on the UT campus and in Central Texas. Further, the case study presented in this report, plus findings from the Central Texas Life Sciences focus group and an associated survey, illustrate the impact that Dell Med has already had in just over eight years since its launch.
Disrupting Illicit Supply Networks: New Applications of Operations Research and Data Analytics to End Modern Slavery
(Bureau of Business Research, 2018-05-01) Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Busch-Armendariz, Noël; Talley, McKenna
Report from a 2017 National Science Foundation workshop on promising research directions for applications of operations research and data analytics toward the disruption of illicit supply networks like human trafficking. The workshop was funded by the NSF’s Operations Engineering (ENG) and the Law & Social Sciences Program (SBE) under grant # CMMI-1726895. The report addresses the opportunity to apply advances from the fields of operations research, management science, analytics, machine learning, and data science toward the development of disruptive interventions against illicit networks. Such an extension of the current research agenda for trafficking would move understanding of such dynamic systems from descriptive characterization and predictive estimation toward improved dynamic operational control.
Economic Contributions of the University of Texas System
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 1994-08) McDonald, Stephen L.; Holloway, Milton; Olson, Jerry; Mohammadioun, Mina
Study of the economic impact of the University of Texas System, using three approaches: assessment of the rates of return on investment in human and knowledge capital; estimation of the size of the System's total economic activity and its net expansion effect; and identification of community benefits resulting from the medical, continuing education, cultural and athletic activities of System components. Features details about the System's 15 member institutions, including its six medical centers.
The Economic Impact of Austin Technology Incubator Alumni Companies on Travis County, 2003–2012
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 2014-01) Jarrett, James E.; Field, Ryan R.
The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) is the business incubator of the IC² Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. ATI works with seed- and pre-seed-stage technology startups, helping to prepare these businesses for commercial success. This study estimated the value to the Travis County economy of ATI companies that graduated over a 10-year period from 2003 to 2012. The study analyzed ATI’s economic contribution in two ways: First, it used data-intensive IMPLAN input-output analysis to estimate quantitative economic and fiscal impacts, based on a survey of ATI alumni company CEOs. Second, short case profiles, derived from interviews with ATI alumni founders, identified qualitative impacts. ATI companies that graduated in the 10 years from 2003 to 2012 are estimated to have generated more than $880 million dollars in economic benefits, created more than 6,520 jobs, and produced more than $20 million in local tax revenue. In addition, many of the founders of the graduated ATI companies later created other companies, became angel investors in local startups, and made important civic contributions beyond their incubated company.
Economic Impact Study: Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 1992-09) Gau, George W.; Jarrett, James E.
Report prepared in 1992 for Travis County and City of Austin officials considering the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan, a habitat conservation plan for the black-capped vireo, golden-cheeked warbler, six karst invertebrates, and two plant species. The research evaluated the comparative effects on Austin’s and Travis County’s future economic development, property values, and government tax revenue of two approaches to complying with the habitat provisions of the Endangered Species Act. In one approach, individual property owners with habitat would need to comply with requirements of the Act if they intended to undertake an activity that affects the habitat on their land. In a second approach, landowners with habitat could voluntarily join a regional habitat conservation plan that collectively ensures the continued existence of the identified endangered species. The study projected the economic costs and benefits of the two approaches over a 20-year period and appears to have been the first major economic analysis in the country of a habitat conservation plan. This research supported establishment of a regional habitat plan (subsequently adopted), and served as a model for many other jurisdictions in analyzing their proposed habitat conservation plans.
A Framework to Develop Interventions to Address Labor Exploitation and Trafficking: Integration of Behavioral and Decision Science within a Case Study of Day Laborers
(Societies, 2023) Kammer-Kerwick, M; Yundt-Pacheco, M; Vashisht, N; Takasaki, K; Busch-Armendariz, N
This paper describes a process that integrates behavioral and decision science methods to design and evaluate interventions to disrupt illicit behaviors. We developed this process by extending a framework used to study systems with uncertain outcomes, where only partial information is observable, and wherein there are multiple participating parties with competing goals. The extended framework that we propose builds from artefactual data collection, thematic analysis, and descriptive analysis, toward predictive modeling and agent-based modeling. We use agent-based modeling to characterize and predict interactions between system participants for the purpose of improving our understanding of interventional targets in a virtual environment before piloting them in the field. We apply our extended framework to an exploratory case study that examines the potential of worker centers as a venue for deploying interventions to address labor exploitation and human trafficking. This case study focuses on reducing wage theft, the most prevalent form of exploitation experienced by day laborers and applies the first three steps of the extended framework. Specifically, the case study makes a preliminary assessment of two types of social interventions designed to disrupt exploitative processes and improve the experiences of day laborers, namely: (1) advocates training day laborers about their workers’ rights and options that they have for addressing wage theft and (2) media campaigns designed to disseminate similar educational messages about workers’ rights and options to address wage theft through broadcast channels. Applying the extended framework to this case study of day laborers at a worker center demonstrates how digital technology could be used to monitor, evaluate, and support collaborations between worker center staff and day laborers. Ideally, these collaborations could be improved to mitigate the risks and costs of wage theft, build trust between worker center stakeholders, and address communication challenges between day laborers and employers, in the context of temporary work. Based on the application of the extended framework to this case study of worker center day laborers, we discuss how next steps in the research framework should prioritize understanding how and why employers make decisions to participate in wage theft and the potential for restorative justice and equity matching as a relationship model for employers and laborers in a well-being economy.
Health and Well-Being: Texas Statewide Sexual Assault Prevalence Study
(Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, The University of Texas at Austin, 2015-08) Busch-Armendariz, Noël B.; Olaya-Rodriguez, Deidi; Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Wachter, Karin; Sulley, Caitlin; Anderson, Kathleen; Huslage, Melody
Final report from a study conducted in 2015 on the prevalence of sexual assault in Texas. The study was based on a statewide telephone survey conducted in English and Spanish using a randomly selected, representative sample of 1,203 adult Texans. The report presents descriptive findings on sexual assault prevalence, health and well-being in Texas, including the victims’ relationship to perpetrators, involvement of alcohol, reporting of sexual assault to the police and the impact of sexual assault on victims. Among its findings: 6.3 million (4.2 million women and 2.1 million men) or 33.2% of adult Texans have experienced some form of sexual assault in their lifetime. 413,000 (2.3% women and 2% men) or 2.2% of adult Texans experienced sexual assault within a year prior to the survey. 65.2% of victims report multiple victimizations. Sexual assault affects all genders; however, women (2 in 5) are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted as men (1 in 5) in their lifetimes. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault when they are 18 or older (26.1%), and men when they are ages 14 to 17 (10.6%). The study was a collaboration between the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault and the Bureau of Business Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
Human Trafficking by the Numbers: The Initial Benchmark of Prevalence and Economic Impact for Texas
(Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA), The University of Texas at Austin, 2016-12) Busch-Armendariz, Noël; Nale, Nicole L.; Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Kellison, J. Bruce; Torres, Melissa I.M.; Cook-Heffron, Laurie; Nehme, John
Report from the Statewide Human Trafficking Mapping Project of Texas, a collaboration among the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) and the Bureau of Business Research at The University of Texas at Austin as well as Allies Against Slavery. The study found that there are more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, including almost 79,000 minors and youth victims of sex trafficking and nearly 234,000 adult victims of labor trafficking. Minor and youth sex trafficking costs the state of Texas approximately $6.6 billion annually, and traffickers exploit approximately $600 million from victims of labor trafficking in Texas.
Impact Assessment of the State of Texas Advanced Research Program
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 2006-12) Jarrett, James E.
“Impact Assessment of the State of Texas Advanced Research Program” evaluated 1312 basic research projects funded at Texas universities since 1987. Economic impacts from principal investigators were compiled, and information was developed about the program’s ability to attract exceptional students to higher educational institutions and to retain these students as productive members of the state’s science and technology workforce. The role of ARP in current and future state science research strategy was addressed. Benchmarking with other state science programs were performed, and recommendations for potential changes in the ARP were provided.
Impact Assessment of the State of Texas Advanced Technology Program
(Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 2005-03) Jarrett, James E.
“Impact Assessment of the State of Texas Advanced Technology Program” evaluated 1850 applied research projects funded at Texas universities since 1987. Economic impacts from principal investigators and private sector partners were compiled, university administrative officials and venture capitalists were interviewed regarding commercialization of university research and development, and recommendations were prepared for potential changes in program procedures and policy.
Recording Victim Video Statements as Evidence to Advance Legal Outcomes in Family Violence Cases (ReVEAL)
(Steve Hicks School of Social Work, 2019) Backes, Bethany; Wasim, Anna; LaMotte, Jennifer; Grau, Katherine; Wood, Leila; Kammer-Kerwick, Matthew
This Implementation Guide provides an overview of the video-recording practices currently in place across several Texas jurisdictions. It provides guidance and considerations for jurisdictions in the collection and use of video evidence in family violence cases. This guide is divided into seven sections, including this Background and Overview. The second section includes information for law enforcement on the purpose of video statements, how to develop and implement a video program, and considerations for sustaining a program. The third section focuses on prosecutorial practices for the use of video statements including legal considerations, coordination with partners, and victim engagement around the video statement. The fourth section provides specific information for victim advocates and includes considerations for victim privacy and confidentiality. The fifth section focuses on technology and equipment, with information on type of equipment, technology infrastructure, and efficient transfer of evidence between agencies. The sixth section is the Summary Report of the ReVEAL project. The Summary Report is a technical overview of the evaluation that includes major findings and links to the ReVEAL reports that were previously released. The seventh and final section is comprised of the appendices and provides sample protocols, site overviews, equipment charts, and additional resources that may be helpful to users of this guide. Throughout this guide, there are several examples of cases and practices that illustrate the specific issues that may present themselves when launching a video-recording program. These examples highlight the complexities of the practice while using real world examples of how video impacts family violence cases, victim safety, and privacy.
Resource Guide for Historically Underutilized Businesses in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area
(2020) Jarrett, James
This guide is a compendium of resources available to Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) in the Austin- Round Rock, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Austin-Round Rock MSA includes the Texas counties of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson. The guide is intended as a one-source, ready-reference for HUBs (including MBEs/WBEs/DBEs) who seek information about contracting with Travis County and other surrounding state and local governments. HUBs who have started or want to improve their businesses are also a target audience. The guide is organized to provide information on the main aspects of the public contracting process: certification, bidding, insurance and bonding, financing, technical assistance and networking and business development. In so doing, it primarily profiles Austin-area governmental offices, universities and colleges, minority and women chambers of commerce and trade associations, non-profit organizations and for-profit companies. The content of each profile, moreover, is drawn largely from their respective webpages. The profile of each listed entity generally contains a mission/description statement, program highlights/services offered costs, if any, and location and contact information. Links are included in each profile and are the main feature for viewing more detailed information. Colored tags appear at the top each entity profile to describe the type of service(s) provided.
Resources for Texas Sexual Assault Survivors
(2020-11) Kellison, Bruce; Sookram, Susan; Camp, Victoria; Kammer-Kerwick, Matt; Sulley, Caitlin; Susswein, Melanie; Dragoon, Stepha; Busch-Armendariz, Noel
The specific project aims were to inventory the sexual assault services available in Texas, assess sexual assault survivors’ needs by region for the 11 Texas regions, and develop a sexual assault services resource inventory.

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