The project, billed as the first national study of the economic impact of a research university and conducted jointly by MIT and the economics department of BankBoston, surveyed 4000 MIT alumni who are founders or chief executives of 3998 companies. The list of firms includes such venerable enterprises as Arthur D. Little Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts, started in 1886, and a host of other names such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Digital, Raytheon, Gillette, Genzyme, and Biogen.

MIT-related companies, if they formed a national economy, would have ranked as the world's 24th largest in 1994, with 1.1 million employees and $232 billion in global sales, notes the report. Software companies are particularly big; other areas are electronics, biotech, scientific instruments, and consulting. In Massachusetts alone, where 36% of MIT-offshoot companies are located, they have created 125,000 jobs. The other large concentration is in California.

Respondents to the survey, directed by BankBoston's chief economist, Wayne M. Ayers, credited MIT with encouraging them to become "risk-takers." Fifty years ago, 60% of company founders were engineering majors. Now only 40% are engineers, with the largest proportion coming from social sciences and management. Interestingly, 40% of biotech and medical products companies have been founded by engineering graduates, but only 18% by life sciences graduates.

Ayers says the survey reinforces the message that knowledge is power: "Given the results of this survey, it behooves government at both the state and federal levels to concentrate resources on investment in human capital."

The complete report can be found on the Internet.