糖心视频

糖心视频
糖心视频

Economics 354

Economics of Science and Technology
Jeffrey Parker, 糖心视频
Fall 2011

 

As with most courses, this reading list only scratches the surface of the interesting and relevant literature on each of the topics we discuss. If you are interested in additional readings, please contact the instructor or search for relevant topics on .

Many of the readings that are not from books are available on the Internet. Most of these will have links directly to the reading. Note that most of these are available through online subscriptions that can be accessed only if you are connecting through the Reed network.

Starred (*) readings are not required. They are listed for those who want further detail about aspects of the topic being covered.

Table of Contents

I. Knowledge, Innovation, and Productivity Growth
II. Innovation: Theories and Evidence
III. Intellectual Property and Innovation
IV. Issues in Technological Change
V. Technology Policy and National Systems of Innovation

 

I. Knowledge, Innovation, and Productivity Growth

A. Knowledge as an economic good

  • Foray, Dominique. 2004. The Economics of Knowledge. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
    • Chapter 5: Knowledge Spillovers
    • Chapter 6: Knowledge as a Public Good
  • Freeman, Chris, and Luc Soete. 1997. The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 3rd ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

    • Chapter 1: Introduction (Pay special attention to Tables 1-1 and 1-3 and the related text.)

B. The nature of innovation

  • Rosenberg, Nathan. 1979. . Technology and Culture 20 (1):25-50. Reprinted as Chapter 3 in N. Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mokyr, Joel. 1990. The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress, New York: Oxford University Press.
    • Chapter 1: Introduction
  • Petroski, Henry. 1992. The Evolution of Useful Things, New York: Alfred Knopf.
    • Chapter 4: From Pins to Paper Clips

C. Innovation and productivity growth

  • Maddison, Angus. 1994. Explaining the Economic Performance of Nations, 1820-1989. Chapter 2 in W.J. Baumol, R.R. Nelson, and E.N. Wolff, eds., Convergence of Productivity: Cross-National Studies and Historical Evidence, pp. 20-61.
  • Baumol, William J. 2010. The Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship. Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press.
    • Introduction and Chapter 1
  • Hall, Bronwyn H. 2011. . Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Papers, No. 17178.

D. Selected highlights from technological history

1. The Industrial Revolution
  • Mokyr. 1990. Lever of Riches.
    • Chapter 5: The Years of Miracles: The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1830
  • Freeman and Soete. 1997. Economics of Industrial Innovation.
    • Chapter 2: The Industrial Revolution.
  • Mokyr, Joel. 2009. . American Economic Review 99 (2):349-355.
2. The 19th and 20th centuries
  • Mokyr. 1990. Lever of Riches.
    • Chapter 6: The Later Nineteenth Century: 1830-1914.
  • Mowery, David C., and Nathan Rosenberg. 1998. Paths of Innovation: Technological Change in 20th-Century America, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
    • Chapter 1: Introduction
    • Chapter 2: The Institutionalization of Innovation, 1900-90.
    • Chapter 6: The Electronics Revolution, 1947-90
  • Mokyr, Joel. 1997. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review 82 (2):31-43.

II. Innovation: Theories and Evidence

A. Measuring innovative activity

  • Patel, Pari, and Keith Pavitt. 1995. Patterns of Technological Activity: Their Measurement and Interpretation. Chapter 2 in P. Stoneman, ed., Handbook of the Economics of Innovation and Technological Change, Blackwell. (An overview of some of the traditional methods of measuring innovation.)
  • Trajtenberg, Manuel. 2002. A Penny for Your Quotes: Patent Citations and the Value of Innovations. Chapter 2 in A.B. Jaffe and M. Trajtenberg, eds., Patents, Citations, and Innovations: A Window on the Knowledge Economy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. (A discussion of one particular method: patent citations.)
  • Alexopoulos, Michelle, and Jon Cohen. 2009. . Journal of Monetary Economics 56 (4):450-470.

B. Microeconomic theory with innovation

  • Schumpeter, Joseph A. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York: Harper & Row, 1950.
    • Chapter VII. The Process of Creative Destruction
  • Baumol. Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship.
    • Chapters 1 through 7

C. Diffusion of innovations

  • Cohen, Wesley M., and Daniel A. Levinthal. 1989. . Economic Journal 99 (397):569-596.
  • Robertson, Paul L., and Parimal R. Patel. 2007. . Research Policy 36 (5):708-721.
  • Nelson, Andrew J. 2009.. Research Policy 38 (6):994-1005.
  • Conley, Timothy G., and Christopher R. Udry. 2010. . American Economic Review 100 (1):35-69.
  • Spolaore, Enrico, and Romain Wacziarg. 2011. . Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Papers, No. 17271.

D. Uncertainty, risk, and strategies of investment in innovation

  • Freeman and Soete. 1997. Economics of Industrial Innovation.
    • Chapter 10: Uncertainty, Project Evaluation, and Innovation
    • Chapter 11: Innovation and the Strategy of the Firm
  • Teece, David J. 1992. Strategies for Capturing the Financial Benefits from Technological Innovation. Chapter 7 in Technology and the Wealth of Nations, edited by N. Rosenberg, R. Landau, and D. Mowery, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

E. What kinds of firms and individuals innovate?

  • Optional Reading: Syverson, Chad. 2011. Journal of Economic Literature 49 (2):326-365.
  • Jensen, Morten Berg, Björn Johnson, Edward Lorenz, and Bengt Åke Lundvall. 2007. . Research Policy 36 (5):680-693.
  • Arthur, W. Brian. 2007. . Research Policy 36 (2):274-287.
  • Freeman and Soete. 1997. Economics of Industrial Innovation.
    • Chapter 9: Innovation and Size of Firm
  • Aghion, Philippe, Nick Bloom, Richard Blundell, Rachel Griffith, and Peter Howitt. 2005. . Quarterly Journal of Economics 120 (2): 701-728.
  • Rosenberg, Nathan. 1982. Inside the Black Box:Technology and Economics. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
    • Chapter 6: Learning by Using
  • von Hippel, Eric. 1988. The Sources of Innovation. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
    • Chapters 2 through 5.
  • Lester, Richard K., and Michael J. Piore. 2004. Innovation, The Missing Dimension. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
    • Introduction
    • Chapter 1: Integration in Cell Phones, Blue Jeans, and Medical Devices
    • Chapter 2: Where Do Problems Come From?
    • Chapter 3: Conversation, Interpretation, and Ambiguity

III. Intellectual Property and Innovation

A. Patents and trade secrets

  • Scotchmer, Suzanne. 2004. Innovation and Incentives. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
    • Chapters 1-8
  • Friedman, David D., William M. Landes, and Richard A. Posner. 1991. . Journal of Economic Perspectives 5 (1):61-72.
  • Cohen, Wesley M., Richard R. Nelson, and John P. Walsh. 2000. . Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Papers, No. 7552.
  • Lerner, Josh. 2009. . American Economic Review 99 (2):343-348.
  • Lerner, Josh, and Julie Wulf. 2007. . Review of Economics and Statistics 89 (4):634-644.

B. Problems with the Current U.S. Patent System

  • Jaffe, Adam B., and Josh Lerner. 2004. Innovation and Its Discontents: How Our Broken Patent System Is Endangering Innovation and Progress, and What to Do about It. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
    • Chapters 1-4, and 7.
  • Reitzig, Markus, Joachim Henkel, and Christopher Heath. 2007. Research Policy 36 (1):134-154.
  • Hall, Bronwyn H. 2009. . Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Papers, No. 14868.
  • Boldrin, Michele, and David K. Levine. 2008. Against Intellectual Monopoly. New York: Cambridge University Press.
    • Chapter 1: Introduction
    • Chapter 3: Innovation under Competition
    • Chapter 4: The Evil of Intellectual Monopoly
  • Gilbert, Richard. 2011. . Journal of Economic Literature 49 (2):421-432.

C. The Anti-Commons Hypothesis 

  • Heller, Michael A., and Rebecca S. Eisenberg. 1998. . Science, New Series, 280 (5364):698-701.
  • Murray, Fiona, and Scott Stern. 2006. . Innovation Policy and the Economy 7:33-69.
  • Walsh, John P., Wesley M. Cohen, and Charlene Cho. 2007. . Research Policy 36 (8):1184-1203.

D. The Economics of Open-Source Software

  • Lerner, Josh, and Jean Tirole. 2002. . Journal of Industrial Economics 50 (2):197-234. 
  • Roberts, Jeff, Il-Horn Hann, and Sandra Slaughter. 2006. . Management Science 52 (7):984-999. (11/16)
  • *Fershtman, Chaim, and Neil Gandal. 2011. A Brief Survey of the Economics of Open Source Software. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research. CEPR Discussion Papers, No. 8434. (This is not required, but has useful and up-to-date references for anyone interested in reading more.)

IV. Issues in Techological Change

A. Path Dependence: Examples and Counterexamples

  • David, Paul A. 1985. American Economic Review 75 (2):332-337.
  • Liebowitz, S. J., and Stephen E. Margolis. 1990. Journal of Law and Economics 33 (1):1-25.
  • Arthur, W. Brian. 1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press.
    • Chapter 1: Positive Feedbacks in the Economy
    • Chapter 2: Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Small Events

B. Networks, Standards, and Externalities

  • Katz, Michael L., and Carl Shapiro. 1994. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8 (2):93-115.
  • Besen, Stanley M., and Joseph Farrell. 1994. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8 (2):117-131.
  • Liebowitz, S. J., and Stephen E. Margolis. 1994. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8 (2):133-150.

C. Financing Innovation: Venture Capital

  • Berlin, Mitchell. 1998. . Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Business Review January/February:15-26.
  • Gompers, Paul A., and Josh Lerner. 2001. The Money of Invention: How Venture Capital Creates New Wealth. Cambridge: Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
    • Chapters 2-6. 
  • Optional Reading: Da Rin, Marco, Thomas F. Hellmann, and Manju Puri. 2011. . Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Papers, No. 17523. (This is a very recent update of the literature on venture capital. It is too long to be required, but will be a useful reference for anyone who wants to learn about the current state of VC research.)

D. Technological Change and the Labor Market

  • Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F. Katz. 2008. The Race Between Education and Technology. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
    • Chapter 2: Inequality across the Twentieth Century
    • Chapter 3: Skill-Biased Technological Change
  • Acemoglu, Daron. 2002. Journal of Economic Literature 40 (1):7-72.
  • Beaudry, Paul, Mark Doms, and Ethan Lewis. 2010. . Journal of Political Economy 118 (5):988-1036.

E. International Technology Transfer, Trade, and Economic Development

  • Krugman, Paul. 1995. Technological Change in International Trade. Chapter 9 in Handbook of the Economics of Innovation and Technological Change, edited by P. Stoneman. Blackwell Handbooks in Economics.
  • , Washington, D.C: World Bank. (Available online through worldbank.org if the link does not work.)
    • Chapters 1 through 4.
  • Caselli, Francesco, and John Coleman. 2001. . American Economic Review 91 (2):328-335.
  • Comin, Diego, and Bart Hobijn. 2004. . Journal of Monetary Economics 51 (1):39-83.
  • Comin, Diego, William Easterly, and Erick Gong. 2010. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2 (3):65-97.

Readings for Sheldon Hochheiser's class visit on December 2

  • Clark, Mark. 1993. . Technology and Culture 34: 516-538.
  • Hughes, Thomas Parke. 2004. American Genesis (New York: Viking Press), Chapter 4 (on reserve).

V. Technology Policies and National Systems of Innovation

  • Mokyr. 1990. Lever of Riches.
    • Chapter 7: Understanding Technological Progress
  • Nelson, Richard R. 2008. Research Policy 37 (1):1-11.
  • Mowery, David C., and Nathan Rosenberg. 1993. The U.S. National Innovation System. Chapter 2 in National Innovation Systems, edited by R. R. Nelson. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 
  • , February 2005
    • Chapter 6: Innovation and the Information Economy
  • Farrell, Joseph, et al. 2005. . Journal of Economic Literature 43 (3):801-822. (Read pp. 801-805 only, covering Chapter 6.)
  • Liu, Feng-Chao, Denis Fred Simon, Yu-Tao Sun, and Cong Cao. 2011. . Research Policy 40 (7):917-931.
  • *Steil, Benn, David G. Victor, and Richard R. Nelson, eds. 2002. Technological Innovation and Economic Performance. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. (Chapters 3-8 describe the recent innovation performances of the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, the U.K., and the Nordic countries.)
  • *Nelson, Richard R., ed. 1993. National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Contains chapters describing the national innovation systems of many countries.)
  • *There is a whole series of books (in the Reed Library) called Economic Development of XX since 1870, where XX is a country. You are encouraged to look at these for specific information on innovation policies in particular countries. See also a series of articles in the February 2002 issue of Research Policy.