MEGA: A Retrospective Assessment

April 18, 2005 marks the 10th anniversary of The Michigan Economic Growth Authority, a program established by Michigan government with the mission of spurring in-state job creation and business investment. The authority is the state of Michigan’s agent for selecting firms to receive Single Business Tax credits in return for creating new facilities and jobs in Michigan.

Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• MEGA: Origin and Evolution
• MEGA's Track Record
• Econometric Evaluation of MEGA's Effectiveness
• MEGA: Explanations
  • Technical Considerations in the Modeling Used by MEGA
  • The Problem of Ensuring MEGA Credits Are Necessary
  • Political and Business Incentives in Programs Like MEGA
  • The “Knowledge Problem”
• Policy Recommendations
• Endnotes for Main Text
• Appendix A: The Model of MEGA's Economic Impacts
• Appendix B: Information Requests to MEDC¹
• Appendix C: Determining MEGA's Job Counts¹
• Appendix D: Site Selection Magazine¹
• Appendix E: A Brief History of State Economic Development
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgements