The enthusiasm surrounding high-technology (high-tech) indus­ tries is in part a response to the prospect of future employment growth and to the expectation that these industries will form the basis of self-sustaining local/regional economies. Currently, how­ ever, states and communities compete for high-tech employment with only a vague understanding of the forces governing the diffusion of high-tech development. All too often they use scarce public revenues to attract these industries with little assurance of long-run returns on such investment.