Files / Working Papers

Canada’s Startup Ecosystems Are Growing, But Still Lag the Global Leaders

There is growing concern over rising economic inequality, the decline of the middle class, and a polarization of the U.S. workforce. This study authored by Richard Florida, Todd Gabe, and Jaison R. Abel, examines the extent to which low-wage workers in the United States transition to better jobs, and explores the factors associated with uch a move up the job ladder.

This chapter examines the phenomenon of “winner-take-all urbanism” and “winner
-take-all cities.” Large segments of the modern economy have been shown to conform to a “winner-take-all” pattern as superstar talent draws a disproportionate share of economic rewards.

This report takes a deep dive into America’s Service Class. The
Service Class includes 65 million workers who toil in precarious,
low-skill, low-pay jobs in fields like Food Preparation and Service, Retail Trade, Personal Care, and Clerical and Administrative positions.
Our research outlines the dramatic growth of the Service Class,
documents the low wages paid to Service Class workers, and charts
the large share of women and minorities that make up Service
Class workers.

This report examines job growth across Canada and the United States. It uses data from Emsi data for the period 2001–2016 for the 222 metros that had more than 100,000 jobs in 2016. This includes 203 U.S., 91 percent of the total, and 19 Canadian metros, 9 percent of them. We also look at job change for the more recent 2012–2016 post-economic crisis and recovery period. (Emsi compiles its labor market analytics from U.S. and Canadian government sources).

Once the province of American tech hubs like California’s Silicon
Valley, venture capital has gone global. This report by Richard Florida and Karen King uses detailed data
from Thomson Reuters to chart the world’s leading centers for venture capital investment.

Recent years have seen increasing apprehension over rising inequality and the growth of the so-called “1 percent.” For all the concern
expressed about the rise of the global super-rich, there is very little
empirical research related to them, especially regarding their location across the cities and metro areas. Our research uses detailed data from
Forbes on the more than 1,800 billionaires across the globe to
examine the location of the super-rich across the world’s cities and
metro areas.

This paper by Richard Florida and Marshall M.A. Feldman explores housing’s role in the ‘Fordist’ organization of the postwar US political economy.

Startup City Canada examines venture capital activity in Canada, identifying its leading cities and metros and mapping its urban orientation in the county’s three largest venture capital hubs: Toronto, Vancouver,and Montréal. This report is part of a larger, ongoing research project tracking the urban geography of venture capital and start-up activity.