Academics & Research
Global Washington State
The Vice Provost of Global Affairs in collaboration with Governor Christine Gregoire's policy team, launched the State's first "census" of how the field of global health is changing Washington's economy. This UW report documents the results of this 9-month study.
Economic Impact Assessment of Global Health on Washington State’s Economy
"This report is compelling confirmation of what so many of us have long believed – that Washington is home to one of the most vibrant, visionary global health communities in the world."
In Washington State in 2005:
- $4.1 billion of business activity was generated by global health activities
- Nearly 3,700 jobs involved global health research and service delivery directed at low-income countries, at an average annual salary of nearly $77,600
- More than 10,100 jobs address the health needs of foreign-born residents and sovereign Indian nations living in Washington State at an average annual salary of more than $48,100
- The global health sector generated an additional 30,000 jobs through its economic impact resulting in more than 43,800 total jobs created or supported by global health activities
- $143 million of Washington’s tax revenue was generated by global health activities
- More than 190 non-profit organizations promoted global health through service delivery, research, training, education and public awareness, including the Gates Foundation—the world’s largest foundation
- $130.2 million in total business activity was generated by global health research and teaching at the University of Washington (UW) and Washington state University (WSU); this activity is expected to grow substantially as a result of the recent $105 million grant to the UW Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Washington State: A Leader in Global Health
To measure the economic impact of global health activities on Washington State’s economy, an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Washington gathered information about Washington State-based companies, organizations and institutions involved in global health. This summary provides estimates of the impacts of global health activities on the state’s economy for the year 2005, the last year for which complete data were available. The impacts measured in this study are limited to economic activity taking place inside Washington State and exclude the economic impacts of Washington-based organizations outside of the state. Global health activity was measured in terms of jobs created, wages paid and organization expenditures or sales, which are used in an input/output model to calculate primary and secondary economic impacts. Washington State’s global health sector creates and supports over 43,000 jobs in Washington State and generates over $1.7 billion in salaries, wages and benefits annually. Nearly 14,000 of these jobs are "direct jobs," employing people working directly in global health. These jobs boast an average annual wage of almost $56,000—over $15,000 higher than the 2005 average annual wage or salary (QCEW Annual Data Files 2005). This high average salary/wage speaks to the quality of global health jobs and helps explain the sector’s large secondary economic impacts on the state’s economy captured by the multiplier effect of 3.18. An example of this large secondary economic impact is the additional 30,000 jobs supported by the global health sector state-wide.
Many Washington State global health activities target the health concerns of low-income and low-middle income countries, referred to in this study as "developing-world health." There are also global health activities that serve populations with strong international ties living in Washington State, such as foreign-born residents and sovereign Indian nations, who make up 13.61% of the state population (US Census Data 2005). Together “developing-world health” activities serving populations in low-income countries and “domestic global health” activities serving foreign-born and sovereign Indian nations comprise this study’s working definition of global health. Economic impact was measured in four sectors: for-profit, non-profit, government and higher education focusing on the University of Washington and Washington State University. Table 1 summarizes the total impact of global health activities.
For more information contact Dr. Amy Hagopian (hagopian@u.washington.edu).
Read the executive summary [61k PDF*] >>
Economic Impact Assessment of Global Health on Washington State’s Economy [ 2 page handout/78k PDF*] >>
Read the full Economic Impact Assessment report [509k PDF*] >>
Go to the Global State of Washington website >>
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