2023 E-Insights Report

Overview

The Tampa Bay E-Insights report is the result of a challenging research inquiry by faculty and graduate students from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. The insights presented in the report complement those presented in the Regional Competitiveness Report presented by the Tampa Bay Partnership. The goal of this initiative was to benchmark the Tampa Bay region across multiple economic indicators relative to 19 other metropolitan statistical areas and to provide policy recommendations to move the proverbial needle when it comes to the Tampa Bay area’s positive ranking on different economic indicators. To this end, researchers adopted a data-driven approach because they strongly believe that data-driven insights are key to accurate decision-making and that the resulting analysis could help civic and business leaders to make informed decisions.

Since 2017, USF researchers have released five E-Insights reports. The first was a study of the economic competitiveness of the Tampa Bay region. Later inquiries expanded the analysis to include inclusive economic growth, the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, and racial equity. One salient feature of this analysis is that it uses real-time big data signals such as Google Trends, which tracks search queries and trends, to derive the most recent or current insights. Also, researchers employ rigorous econometric analyses to identify the primary drivers of economic growth, using the results to recommend policy initiatives. The succeeding E-Insights reports presented the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy of Tampa Bay with a focus on crucial domains of the economy such as education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.

In this edition of the E-Insights report, the researchers present the analysis of indicators that represent the nature of work and quality of life. The researchers have primarily used the data from real-time sources such as Google Trends, Zillow, LinkedIn, and Indeed for the analysis. As the nation and the world moved into a post-pandemic era, it is evident that the pandemic has changed the work structure and quality of life across the nation. The steep rise in remote work and inflation stands as evidence of the changing nature of work and life. Therefore, it is crucial to assess how the Tampa Bay region is faring with respect to other competitive MSAs in terms of job opportunities and quality of life.