Public Administration 776 -- Spring 2009
Economics of Science and Technology

Below are links to articles on the reading list that are available on-line through the Syracuse University library.  The articles are organized by date and subject, as on the syllabus.  For articles on reserve at the library, a link to Blackboard is provided.  Note that this is not a complete syllabus, as it does not include readings from the textbook.

Because these articles are made available through the SU library, they are only available to SU students.  If you are using a computer on campus, the links will take you directly to the article.


 
January 12 – Introduction

January 14 – Technology and Economic Growth

Easterlin, Richard A. (2000), “The Worldwide Standard of Living Since 1800,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(1), pp. 7-26.

Grossman, Gene M. and Elhanan Helpman (1994), “Endogenous Innovation in the Theory of Growth,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 8(1), pp. 23-44.

“Economic Focus: Closing the Growth Gap,” The Economist, October 29, 2005, 82.

“Economic Focus: The Growth Machine,” The Economist, May 18, 2002, 74.


January 21 – Knowledge as a Public Good

Geroski, Paul (1995), “Markets for Technology: Knowledge, Innovation, and Appropriability,” ch. 4. in Paul Stoneman, ed. Handbook of the Economics of Innovation and Technological Change, pp. 90-131. on reserve

 Mansfield, Edwin, John Rapoport, Anthony Romeo, Samuel Wagner, and George Beardsley (1977), “Social and Private Rates of Return from Industrial Innovations,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 91(2), pp. 221-240.


January 26 – Measuring Knowledge
Basberg, Bjorn L. (1987), “Patents and the measurement of technological change: A survey of the literature,” Research Policy, 16, pp. 131-141. on reserve

May, Robert M. (1997), “The Scientific Wealth of Nations,” Science, 275, pp. 793-796.


January 28 & February 2 – Sources of Technological Change
Link, Albert N. and Donald S. Siegel (2003), “Sources of technological knowledge,” ch. 8 in Link and Siegel (eds.) Technological Change and Economic Performance, pp. 60-69. on reserve

Nemet, Gregory F. (2008), “Does Learning By Doing Improve Energy Technology?” LaFollette Policy Report, 17(2), pp. 17-20.

Rosenberg, Nathan (1982), “Learning by Using” Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics, pp. 120-140.  on reserve

 “Catch the wave,” The Economist, February 20, 1999, pp. S7-S8.

“Companies and innovation: Less glamour, more profit,” The Economist, April 24, 2004, p. 11.

“Don’t laugh at gilded butterflies,” The Economist, April 24, 2004, pp. 71-73.

“Out of the dusty labs,” The Economist, March 3, 2007, pp. 74-76.

 

February 4 – What is Intellectual Property Protection (IPP)?
Besen, Stanley M. and Leo J. Raskind (1991), “An Introduction to the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1), pp. 3-27.

Bernstein, David, “Music Royalties Rise, Even as CD Sales Fall,” The New York Times, January 26, 2004, p. C6.

Levy, Steven, “Glitterati vs. Geeks,” Newsweek, October 14, 2002, pp. 40-42.

Varian, Hal R., “Economic Scene: The Internet caries profound implications for providers of information,” The New York Times, July 27, 2000, C2.

 “A fine balance,” The Economist, January 25, 2003, p. S13-S17.

“The slow death of digital rights,” The Economist, October 13, 2007, p. 75.

“Twist and shout,” The Economist, June 11, 2005, p. 59.


February 9 – How Firms Use Intellectual Property Protection

Greenhalgh, Christine and Mark Rogers (2007), “The value of intellectual property rights to firms and society,” Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 23(4), pp. 541-567.

Levin, Richard C., Alvin K. Klevorkick, Richard R. Nelson, and Sidney G. Winter (1987), “Appropriating the Returns from Industrial Research and Development,” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3, pp. 783-831.
“An open-source shot in the arm?” The Economist, June 12, 2004, pp. S17-S19.

“Beyond capitalism?” The Economist, June 12, 2004, pp. 16-17.

“Patently Absurd,” The Economist, June 23, 2001, pp. S40-S42

“The arms race,” The Economist, October 22, 2005, pp. S6-S12.


February 11 – Case: Medical Biotechnology
Henderson, Rebecca. Luigi Orsenigo, and Gary P. Pisano (1999), “The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Revolution in Molecular Biology: Interactions Among Scientific, Institutional, and Organizational Change,” ch. 7 in Sources of Industrial Leadership: Studies of Seven Industries, David C. Mowery and Richard R. Nelson, eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 267-311. on reserve

Tedeschi, Bob, “E-commerce: As the debate continues, opinions are divided over the merits of allowing online drug purchases from Canada,” The New York Times, March 8, 2004, C4.

Davey, Monica, “Illinois to Help Residents Buy Drugs from Canada and Afar,” The New York Times, August 17, 2004.

“Beyond the pill,” The Economist, October 27, 2007, p. 76.

“The bitterest pill,” The Economist, January 26, 2008, pp. 62-63.

“Testing times,” The Economist, June 18, 2005, pp. S5-S10.

 

February 16 – IPP Policy Issues

Hunt, Robert M., “You Can Patent That?  Are Patents on Computer Programs and Business Methods Good for the New Economy?” Business Review, Quarter 1, 2001, pp. 5-15.

Lemley, Mark A. and Carl Shapiro (2005), “Probabilistic Patents,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(2), pp. 75-98.

Barnes, Robert and Alan Sipress, “Rulings Weaken Patents’ Power: High Court Decides on Two Key Cases,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2007, p. D1.

Varian, Hal R., “Economic Scene: A patent that protects a better mousetrap spurs innovation. But what about one for a new way to amuse a cat?” The New York Times, October 21, 2004, C2.

National Academies (2004), “Patent System for the 21st Century: Summary of a STEP Board Report.”

“A patent improvement,” The Economist, September 8, 2007, S28-S29.

“Inventive ideas,” The Economist, November 8, 2003, p. 63.


February 18 & 23 – Government Subsidies of R&D
Hall, Bronwyn and John Van Reenen (2000). “How Effective are Fiscal Incentives for R&D? A Review of the Evidence,” Research Policy, 29, pp. 449-469.
David, Paul A., Bronwyn H. Hall, and Andrew A. Toole (2000), “Is Public R&D a Complement or Substitute for Private R&D? A Review of the Econometric Evidence,” Research Policy, 29, pp. 497-529.

Goolsbee, Austan, “What Baseball Can Teach Those Who Dream of Creating the Next Silicon Valley,” The New York Times, August 17, 2006, C3.

Leonhardt, David, “You Want Innovation? Offer a Prize,” The New York Times, January 31, 2007, p. C1, C6.

Safire, William, “California’s Stem Cell Gold Rush,” The New York Times, December 15, 2004, A33.

“Science and Profit,” The Economist, February 17, 2001, pp. 21-22.
“Outrageous Fortune,” The Economist, May 19, 2001, pp. 77-78.

February 25 – Technology Transfer
Bozeman, Barry, “Technology transfer and public policy: a review of research and theory,” Research Policy, 29, pp, 627-655. (skim sec. 6)

Mowrey, David C. and Timothy Simcoe (2002), “Is the Internet a US invention – an economic and technological history of computer networking,” Research Policy, 31, pp. 1369-1387.

“Research and Development: Funds and Technology Linkages,” chapter 4 in Science and Engineering Indicators: 2006. Read pages 4-19 to 4-38.


March 2 – Government Policy For Diffusion

Flanigan, James, “The Route From Research to Start-Up,” The New York Times, January 18, 2007, p. C16.

Kunhardt, Erich E., “Necessity as the Mother of Tenure?” The New York Times, December 14, 2004, A33.

Morrissey, Susan R., “Maximizing Returns,” Chemical & Engineering News, September 15, 2003, pp. 17-20.

“Bayhing for blood or Doling out cash?” The Economist, December 24, 2005, p. 109.

March 4 – Theories of Diffusion
“Lock and Key,” The Economist, September 18, 1999, p. 88.

“Getting the message,” The Economist, March 4, 2006, p. 61.


March 16 & 18 – International Technology Diffusion
Keller, Wolfgang (2001), “International Technology Diffusion,” NBER Working Paper #8573.
Mansfield, Edwin and Anthony Romeo (1980), “Technology Transfer to Overseas Subsidiaries by U.S.-Based Firms,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 95(4), pp. 737-750.

Lanjouw, Jean Olson and Ashoka Mody (1996), “Innovation and the international diffusion of environmentally responsive technology,” Research Policy, 25, pp. 549-571.

World Investment Report 2005: Transnational Corporations and the Internationalization of R&D, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, chapters V & VI.

Dugger, Celia W., “A Bounty of Rice for Africa, Just Out of Reach,” The New York Times, October 10, 2007, pp. A1, A12.

 

March 23 & 25 – International Technology Policy

“Acquiring Knowledge,” chapter 2 in World Development Report 1998/99: Knowledge for Development, World Bank.

Allam, Abeer, “Seeking Investment, Egypt Tries Patent Laws,” The New York Times, October 4, 2002, pp. W1, W7.

“Fruit that falls far from the tree,” The Economist, November 5, 2005.

“Intellectual property in India: Developing,” The Economist, April 14, 2001, p. 58.

“Patently problematic,” The Economist, September 14, 2002, pp, 75-76.
“Patents and the poor: The rights to good ideas,” The Economist, June 23, 2001, pp. 21-23.

 

March 30 – Examples of Technology in Developing Countries

Frew, Sarah E., Rahim Rezaie, Stephen M. Sammut, Monali Ray, Abdallah S. Daar & Peter A. Singer (2007), “India’s health biotech sector at a crossroads,” Nature Biotechnology, 25(4), 403-417.

Dugger, Celia W., “Study Finds Small Developing Lands Hit Hardest by ‘Brain Drain’,” The New York Times, October 25, 2005, p. A9.

“Imitate or die,” The Economist, November 10, 2007, pp. S10-S12.

“Leapfrogging or piggybacking?” The Economist, November 10, 2007, pp. S4-S10.

“Local heroes,” The Economist, February 3, 2007, pp. 79-80.

“Of internet cafés and power cuts,” The Economist, February 9, 2008. 75-77.

“The next big thing,” The Economist, June 18, 2005, pp. S17-S19.

“Racing down the pyramid,” The Economist, November 15, 2008, 76.

“Southern comfort, eastern promise,” The Economist, December 11, 2004, pp. 78-79.

“To do with the price of fish,” The Economist, May 12, 2007, p. 84.

“Transcending the genre,” The Economist, November 10, 2007, p. S6.

 

April 1  – Drug Patents in Developing Countries
Attaran, Amir and Lee Gillespie-White (2001), “Do Patents for Antiretroviral Drugs Constrain Access to AIDS Treatment in Africa?” Journal of the American Medical Association, 286(15), pp. 1886-1892. on reserve

Barder, Owen, Michael Kremer, and Heidi Williams (2006), “Advance Market Commitments: A Policy to Stimulate Investment in Vaccines for Neglected Diseases,” Economists’ Voice, 3(3), article 1.

Kremer, Michael (2002), “Pharmaceuticals and the Developing World,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(4), pp. 67-90. 

McNeil Jr., Donald G., “India Alters Law on Drug Patents,” The New York Times, March 24, 2005, p. A1.

Petersen, Melody, “Lifting the Curtain on the Real Costs of Making AIDS Drugs,” The New York Times, April 24, 2001, pp. C1, C10.

Varian, Hal R., “Economic Scene: A big factor in prescription drug pricing: Location, location, location,” The New York Times, September 21, 2000, p. C2.

“A gathering storm,” The Economist, June 9, 2007, pp. 71-72.

“A promising prognosis,” The Economist, September 10, 2005, p. 76.

“Foundation,” The Economist, January 29, 2005, pp. 76-77.

“How Dr Chan intends to defend the planet from pandemics,” The Economist, June 16, 2007, pp. 67-68.

“Quagmire to goldmine,” The Economist, May 17, 2008, pp. 77-78.

 

April 6 – Information Technology Policy Issues

Varian, Hal and Carl Shapiro (1997), “U.S. Government Information Policy”.

Chevalier, Judith, “In Search of Wireless Wiggle Room,” The New York Times, October 21, 2007.

Levy, Steven, “Info With a Ball and Chain,” Newsweek, June 23, 2003, p. 59.

Varian, Hal R., “Economic Scene: In the clash of technology and copyright, file-sharing is only the latest battleground,” The New York Times, April 7, 2005, p. C2.

“Changing the rules,” The Economist, October 14, 2006, pp. S16-S18.

“Freeing the airwaves,” The Economist, May 31, 2003, p. 76.

“On the same wavelength,” The Economist, August 14, 2004, pp. 61-63.

“Open up those highways,” The Economist, January 19, 2008, 65.

 

April 8 – Taxation and the Internet

Goolsbee, Austin (2001), “The Implications of Electronic Commerce for Fiscal Policy (and Vice Versa),” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(1), pp. 13-23.

 Tagilabue, John, “From Europe, Creative Taxation,” The New York Times, September 28, 2000, pp. C1, C14.

“The Tap Runs Dry,” The Economist, May 31, 1997, pp.15

April 13 – The Digital Divide

Campbell, Duncan, “Can the digital divide be contained?” International Labour Review, 140(2), 119-141.

Chinn, Menzie D. and Robert W. Fairlie (2005), “Assessing the Global Digital Divide,” LaFollette Policy Report, 15(1), pp. 1-2 & 10-14.

Compaine, Benjamin M. (2001), “Re-examining the Digital Divide,” ch. 12 in Communications policy in transition: The Internet and beyond, Benjamin M. Compaine and Shane Greenstein eds., pp. 321-348. on reserve

“The real digital divide,” The Economist, March 12, 2005, p. 11.

“Calling across the divide,” The Economist, March 12, 2005, p. 74.

“Canyon or mirage?” The Economist, January 24, 2004, p. 69.

“Reality bites,” The Economist, September 1, 2007, pp. 61-62.

“Wi-Pie in the sky?” The Economist, March 11, 2006, pp. S22-S24.

 

April 15 – Science in America

“How is America Doing Now in Science and Technology?” chapter 3 in Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, National Academies Press, 2007.

Freeman, Richard B. (2006), “Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?” ch. 5 in Innovation Policy and the Economy, vol 6, Adam B. Jaffe, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern, eds., pp. 123-157. on reserve

“A gathering storm?” The Economist, November 22, 2008, 73-74.


April 20 – Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change

Holdren, John P. (2006), “The Energy Innovation Imperative: Addressing Oil Dependence, Climate Change, and Other 21st Century Energy Challenges,” innovations, pp. 3-23.

Jaffe, Adam B., Richard G. Newell, and Robert N. Stavins, “Technology Policy for Energy and the Environment,” in Adam B. Jaffe, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern, eds., Innovation Policy and the Economy, vol 4, MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, pp. 35-68, 2004. on reserve

Revkin, Andrew C., “Budgets Falling in Race to Fight Global Warming,” The New York Times, October 30, 2006, pp. A1, A14.


April 22 – Technology and Health Care
Glied, Sherry (2003), “Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(2), pp. 125-148.

Gelijns, Annetine C., Joshua Graff Zivin, and Richard R. Nelson (2001), “Uncertainty and Technological Change in Medicine,” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 26(5), pp. 913-924.

Dewar, Diane M. (1997), “Medical Technology in the United States and Canada: Where Are We Going?” Review of Social Economy, 55(3), pp. 359-378.

Harris, Gardiner, “British Balance Gain Versus Cost of Latest Drugs,” The New York Times, December 3, 2008, A1, A18.

“The cost of living,” The Economist, June 18, 2005, pp. S14-S16.


April 27 – Antitrust Issues
Hart, David M. (2001), “Antitrust and technological innovation in the US: ideas, decisions, and impacts 1890-2000,” Research Policy, 30, pp. 923-936.
“Knowledge is power,” The Economist, September 23, 2000, pp. S27-S32.

“Slackers or pace-setters?” The Economist, May 22, 2004, p. 72.

“Stay Vigilant,” The Economist, September 22, 2007, p. 17.

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