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Arctic Yearbook 2014
boroughs are creative capital ‘hot spots.’ Many of the leading places (albeit not all) are economically
or politically privileged boroughs, which encompass the state’s capital and its largest cities
(Anchorage and Fairbanks). These hot spots are, perhaps, nationally competitive in terms of
attracting the CC. They are places where the creative potential is high, and where the community’s
efforts to embrace a new economic trajectory would be the most fruitful.
The Talent Index (TI) in Alaska exhibits a pattern typical for the Canadian Territories. TI approached
or exceeded 1.0 (U.S. average) in the capital (Juneau) and surrounding regions (Figure 4). Here,
similarly to Whitehorse and Yellowknife in Canada, we observe a concentration of residents with
high levels of formal education, most probably public employees. Fairbanks and Anchorage follow
the capital region with well-educated populations. In contrast, most rural regions demonstrate a very
low Talent Index.
The Applied Science Index (ASI) reflects the relative concentration of people with occupations in
applied science and technology. Not surprisingly, again the larger urban centers (Anchorage,
Fairbanks and Juneau) had high levels of the ASI comparable or exceeding those in Yellowknife and
Whitehorse. The outlying areas of Alaska demonstrate extremely low stock of people with science
and technology occupations.
The Bohemian Index (BI) is used to measure the ‘artistic capital’ as a separate category of creative
capital, to a large degree associated with the Native arts and crafts. In Alaska high BI was registered
in two completely different types of regions: larger city-regions (Anchorage and Juneau) and the
North Slope Borough. This most likely reflects two distinct types of ‘bohemia’ that co-exist in the
state: the Native American ‘bohemia’ in the very north and urban ‘bohemia’ in the urban south.
The role of political and civic leaders in economic development in Arctic communities can be
considerable given their close involvement with local businesses and access to capital (e.g.,
government assistance programs). The high Leadership Index was registered in the capital and central
cities, such as Juneau and Anchorage. The LI is also high in the North Slope Borough, and 11 more
boroughs have LI higher than the USA average. At the same time, remote and inland regions of
Alaska clearly lack the leadership capital.
The Entrepreneurship Index (EI) shows that entrepreneurial capital is clustered in Anchorage and
Juneau. This, as in the case with the TI and the ASI, reflects a pattern of creative capital
overconcentration in centrally located hubs and shortage of entrepreneurial capacities in the state’s
periphery. Similarly to the Canadian North, there is a geographic disconnect between the
entrepreneurial and other forms of creative capital (e.g., bohemian) associated with these areas and
its Native population.
Finally, the Tech-Pole Index (TPI) demonstrates that very few Alaskan boroughs have specialization in
technology-intensive industries. With the exception of Bristol Bay and Northwest Alaska all of these
regions are concentrated in the southern and southeastern portion of the state around Anchorage
and Juneau. Even there, though, the TPI values are not high, but comparable with those found in
the Canadian territorial capitals. The absence of significant relationship between the specialization in
high technology industries (TPI) and any of the creative capital indices is a notable deviation from
Creative Arctic