What is the innovation sector? Thoughts on Moretti’s book ‘The New Geography of Jobs’

Enrico Moretti’s book “‘The New Geography of Jobs” discusses how certain jobs, which he refers to innovation jobs, and where they are located are important factors for economic development.  Using data and economic research as support, he provides numerous arguments that suggest that these types of jobs are big economic drivers and dictate the economic fate of many communities.

So what are innovation jobs?  Moretti defines innovation jobs as jobs that make intensive use of human capital and human ingenuity. These jobs includes the obvious like high tech software jobs but also less obvious like jobs in the movie industry that make use of high tech and personal creativity.

Throughout the book Moretti argues that the typical innovation job is worth more substantially more than traditional jobs. That is one reason why he believes we should not be concerned about the loss in the traditional types of jobs.