Research Seminar: Real Effects of Academic Research Revisited

The Growth Lab’s Research Seminar series is a weekly seminar that brings together researchers from across the academic spectrum who share an interest in growth and development

Speaker: Adam Jaffe, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Brandeis University, Chair of the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy

Whether attending in person or virtually, please register in advance. Room attendance is permitted for the Harvard community. The Zoom session is open to the public.

Abstract: This Chapter surveys the findings of social science research on the contribution of universities to innovation and economic growth, both locally/regionally and globally. In the last several decades research has demonstrated universities’ causal effects through the mechanisms of knowledge creation, education and training of students and technology transfer/entrepreneurship.

The Chapter summarizes how the literature has studied these mechanisms in different disciplines and industrial sectors. The depth and breadth of understanding have been advanced by new microdata and new methods of linking data across inventions, scientists and institutions, and by application of methods from network science. These findings have implications for public policy to foster innovation both regionally and globally.

Speaker Bio: Adam Jaffe is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Brandeis University and chair of the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy. At Brandeis, he served as Chair of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He was previously Co-Chair of The OECD Global Science Forum Experts’ Group on “Effective Operation of Competitive Research Funding Systems,” and was the founding Coordinator of the National Bureau of Economic Research Innovation Information Initiative (“I3”). Jaffe is currently an Editor for Research Policy. He is the co-author of two books, Innovation and its Discontents and Patents, citations, and innovations: A window on the knowledge economy. He holds an S.B. in chemistry and S.M. in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.