"The Goose that Lays the Golden Egg"?: The "Bio-Med" Industries of New Orleans

This thesis addresses New Orleans' "Bio-Med" sector, a broad category that includes biosciences research, health care, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. Biotechnology, in particular, has emerged as an attractive target for economic development in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and in the nation as a whole. Informed by economic geography and development literature, this research presents a narrative of efforts to foster the Bio-Med industries in New Orleans as a source of economic diversification and employment. Structural economic conditions, as well as a complex and unsettled array of political agendas shaping Bio-Med institutions, underscore a pessimistic view of the potential for biotechnology to generate significant economic impacts. Since Katrina exacerbated these conditions, Bio-Med strategies should direct more attention to the health care industry and specifically to addressing workforce gaps to meet the twin goals of expanding health coverage and providing realistic employment opportunities for underserved populations.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Urban and Regional Studies

Year

2006

Author dc:creator

• Habans, Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nelson, Marla
• Gladstone, David
• Miestchovich, Ivan

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/473

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1473