Just the facts often help resolve arguments.
Job-flight theory falters
State share of U.S. total rises, study says
By Dale Kasler - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, February 15, 2007
It seems the California business climate is always on trial.
Business leaders say high costs are driving companies out of state. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used that argument to persuade the Legislature to overhaul the state's workers' compensation system. Ever the showman, he cast himself as a defender against business recruiters from other states, at one point unloading a moving van to welcome a company that moved to Southern California from Las Vegas.
But a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California says talk of a problematic business climate is overblown, and California is holding its own against other states.
The study, being released today by the nonpartisan San Francisco-based institute, says that while some California companies are moving jobs out of state, non-California companies are moving operations here. And, of course, existing companies are adding jobs.
"California's share of national employment dipped in the early to mid-1990s and has risen since then," says the study, co-authored by the institute's Jed Kolko and David Neumark. The numbers "make it difficult to argue that these changes reflect a bad business climate in recent years."
