Econ124, PP190-4, PP290 Economics (and Policy) of Innovation Office hours M We are a test course for the hosting website bSpace: Try to log in! (Need to make sure you have access.) Two exams, no exemptions without written excuse.

Requirements and Readings Attendance and participation: Usually matters as a tie-breaker in grading. Quiz, 40% Study questions will be posted. Final exam, 60% Study questions will be posted. Graduate students will write a paper. Main Text: Innovation and Incentives MIT Press. Other readings will be either linked to syllabus, distributed in class, or available on bspace. Other lectures on campus will also be posted, for example, the Innovation Seminar (noon Weds) at Haas.

Big Questions (Some of which will be answered here) Why are some countries rich and some poor? Europe + Japan + US = 13% of world population Europe + Japan + US = 50% of world GDP Does technology drive GDP growth? Why isn’t the same technology available everywhere? Are R&D institutions the same as in the past? How have institutions changed? Why does the federal government poor R&D money into universities? Why doesn’t the private sector do it? Has this always been the case?

Why does the private sector poor R&D money into universities? Why doesn’t the public sector do it? Should drugs be funded out of general tax revenue? Why does the U.S. give patents to foreign inventors? Should computer software be patented? business methods? bioengineering? drugs? Should Microsoft be allowed to keep its interfaces proprietary?

Some Littler Questions (Easier to Answer) Should the US invest in Stem Cell Research? Should the federal government fund it? Pharmaceutical companies? State of California? Should the US have funded the human genome project? When a patient’s cells are used to invent a drug therapy, who should own the rights to the therapy?

The Institutions of Innovation Government –In house –Sponsorship –National labs –Facilities for for Big Science Industry –Self-funded –Government-funded Universities –Self-funded –Government funded –Industry Funded –Foundation funded