AnnaLee Saxenian

AnnaLee Saxenian is an influential author and professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on technological development and economic transformation, specializing in the effects of globalization on cities and regions, and examining issues related to the competitiveness of metropolitan economies, technological change and the digital divide, and the effects of economic restructuring on social and economic disparities in education, health, and employment.

An expert in the area of urban population mobility, Saxenian’s research has mostly been associated with her writing of books such as “Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128” and “The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy”. Both analyze the different trajectories taken by Silicon Valley, California, and Route 128, Massachusetts — two influential high-tech clusters — in regards to their technological development, labor force, and economic success.

Saxenian’s first book, “Regional Advantage”, compares the economic and cultural traits of the two locations and argues that Silicon Valley’s advantage over Route 128 was its culture — emphasizing an open network of collective knowledge, willingness to experiment and its ability to adapt to constantly changing technology. Saxenian also uses this book to explain the rise of the “independent knowledge worker” and the proliferation of high-tech entrepreneurship.

In her second book, “The New Argonauts”, Saxenian dives deeper into the construction of a ‘transnational professional elite’ — referring to the constant movement between Silicon Valley, the former USSR, India, and other technology hubs — and looks at the connection between regional capitalism and globalization. Saxenian further elaborates on the interactive effects of diaspora networks — referring to the transfer of information, money, and labor between countries — and the ability of entrepreneurs to take advantage of the shifting power dynamics between nation-states and global flows of capital.

Saxenian’s groundbreaking research has made her an influential author in the fields of public policy, regional development, and technology. Her research has also earned her numerous awards, such as the John Heinz Distinguished Service Award and the Charles A. Hayes Presidential Award — making her one of the most popular scholars in her field. Saxenian’s books are required readings for courses on economic geography, regional development, and Silicon Valley history, and have laid the foundations for future analyses of the high-tech industry and the effects of economic transformations on cities and regions around the globe.