Economic Analysis of Massachusetts Trade With Israel:

A Closer Look At NEIBC’s “Massachusetts-Israel Economic Impact Study”

by

Jelena Mitić Elliott

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Massachusetts Trade Partners

UMass Boston undergraduate, and Massachusetts Peace Action intern, Jelena Mitić Elliott, examined a report produced by the New England Israel Business Council (NEIBC) which purports to show that Israel has a large economic impact on Massachusetts.

Mitić Elliott’s main findings are:

  • Claims that Israeli businesses create over 9,000 jobs in Massachusetts are not supported by the data. Israel businesses in MA constitute less than 3% of jobs in the state in 2012-2015 period.
  •  All calculations and data interpretation based on the Israeli origin of the founder or the company are overstated and gravely inflated. Methodology used to determine origin of companies is elusive, and criteria is made up to skew the data. In addition, research methods on origin data are not provided and in some instances falsely reported.
  • Israel’s Market Size is small and it needs partnership with US in order to place into the global market through trade with the US economy, not the other way around.
  • In 2016, out of a total of over 33’000 international students in Massachusetts, Israeli students are only 0,9%, and for 2017 and over 36’000, Israeli students count for 0,8%. When compared to Chinese and Indian students, which together represent about 50% of all foreign students in Massachusetts, the Israeli student body seems insignificant.