Readings

Required Texts

[TILS] Bonvillian, William and Charles Weiss. Technological Innovation in Legacy Sectors. Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780199374519.

Ses # Topic Readings
Unit A: Economic Growth Theory and the Innovation System
1 Economic Growth Theory and the Direct Elements in Innovation

Solow, Robert M. “Robert M. Solow Prize Lecture: Growth Theory and After.” Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB, 2014.

Jorgenson, Dale. “U.S. Economic Growth in the Information Age.” Issues in Science and Technology 18, no. 1 (2001).

Romer, Paul. “Endogeneous Technological Change (PDF - 7.1MB).” Journal of Political Economy 98 (1990): 72–102.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2016.” NSF.gov. National Science Board, 2016.

Milunovich, Steven and John Roy. “The Next Small Thing: An Introduction to Nanotechnology.” Merrill Lynch, 2001.

2 Innovation Systems and Direct/Indirect Elements in the Innovation Ecosystem

Nelson, Richard, ed. National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis. Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 3–21, 505–523. ISBN: 9780195076172. [Preview with Google Books]

Atkinson, Robert. The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power Cycles of Growth. Edward Elgar Pub, 2005, pp. 3–40. ISBN: 9781845425760.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2015–2016.” World Economic Forum, 2016.

Rycroft, Robert and Don Kash. “Innovation Policy for Complex Technologies.” Issues in Science and Technology 16, no. 1 (Fall 1999).

Milbergs, Egils. “National Innovation Initiative: Valuing Long-Term Innovation Strategies (PDF).” National Innovation Initiative, 2004.

Gupta, Udayan, ed. Done Deals: Venture Capitalists Tell Their Stories. Harvard Business Review Press, 2000, pp. 1–11. ISBN: 9780875849386.

Shultze, Charles. “Industrial Policy: A Dissent (PDF).” The Brookings Review 2, no. 1 (Fall 1983): 3–12.

McKenzie, Richard. “Industrial Policy.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2007.

Unit B: Challenges Facing the U.S. Economy
3 The Competitive Challenge to U.S. Manufacturing

Jorgenson, Dale. “U.S. Economic Growth in the Information Age.” Issues in Science and Technology 18, no. 1 (2001).

Hughes, Kent. Building the Next American Century: The Past and Future of American Economic Competitiveness. John Hopkins University Press, 2005. Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7. ISBN: 9780801882036.

Lynn, Barry. End of the Line. Doubleday, 2005, pp. 1–18. ISBN: 9780385510240. [Preview with Google Books]

Berger, Suzanne. How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it in Today’s Global Economy. Crown Business, 2005, pp. 251–277. ISBN: 9780385513593.

Fong, Glenn. “Follower at the Frontier: International Competition and Japanese Industrial Policy (PDF).” International Studies Quarterly 42, 3 (1998): 339–266.

Kim, Linsu. Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea’s Technological Learning. Harvard Business Review, 1997, pp. 192–213, 234–243. ISBN: 9780875845746.

Moses, Joel. “Three Design Methodologies, Their Associated Organizational Structures, and Their Relationship to Various Fields.” Proceedings of Engineering Systems Symposium MIT, 2004.

4 The Challenge from Globalization for Advanced Manufacturing and New Services

Samuelson, Paul. “Where Ricardo and Mill Rebut and Confirm Arguments of Mainstream Economists Supporting Globalization (PDF).” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18, no. 3 (2004): 135–137, 144–145.

Pisano, Gary and Willy Shih. “Restoring American Competitiveness.” Harvard Business Review (2009): 114–125.

Nahm, Jonas and Steinfeld, Edward. “Scale-Up Nation: China’s Specialization in Innovative Manufacturing (PDF).” World Development 54 (2014): 228–300.

[TILS] Chapters 4 and 13 (pp. 37–54, 215–239). Manufacturing as an Innovation Policy Change.

Bonvillian, William. “Donald Trump’s Voters and the Decline of American Manufacturing.” Issues in Science and Technology 32 (2016).

MIT Taskforce on Innovation and Production. “Report of the MIT Taskforce on Innovation and Production (PDF).” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013.

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “Report to the President Accelerating U.S. Advanced Manufacturing (PDF).” Executive Office of the President, 2014, pp. 1–12.

Unit C: Federal-Private Sector Roles in the Innovation System
5 The Innovation System at the Institutional Level: The Organization of Federal Science Support

Hart, David. Forged Consensus: Science, Technology, and Economic Policy in the United States, 1921–1953. Princeton University Press, 2010, pp. 17–29. ISBN: 9780691146546. [Preview with Google Books]

Conant, Jennet. Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. Simon & Schuster, 2003, pp. 178–289. ISBN: 9780684872889.

Bush, Vannevar. “Science: The Endless Frontier.” United States Government Printing Office, 1945. Read through Chapter 1.

Blanpied, William. “Inventing US Science Policy.” Physics Today 51, no. 2 (1988): 34–40.

Singer, Peter. “Federally Supported Innovations: 22 Examples of Major Technology Advances That Stem From Federal Research Support (PDF - 9.9MB).” The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, 2014.

Stokes, Donald. Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation. Brookings Institution Press, 1997, pp. 1–25, 45–89. ISBN: 9780815781776. [Preview with Google Books]

6 Crossing “The Valley of Death” Between Research and Development: The Public-Private Partnership Approach

Branscomb, Lewis and Philip Auerswald. “Between Invention and Innovation: An Analysis of Funding for Early-Stage Technology Development (PDF - 4.0MB).” National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2002.

Ruttan, Vernon. Is War Necessary for Economic Growth?: Military Procurement and Technology Development. Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 21–31, 91–111. ISBN: 9780195188042. [Preview with Google Books]

Fong, Glenn. “Breaking New Ground or Breaking the Rules: Strategic Reorientation in U.S. Industrial Policy (PDF).” International Security 25, no. 2 (2000): 152–162.

Yannuzzi, Rick. “In-Q-Tel: A New Partnership Between the CIA and the Private Sector.” Defense Intelligence Journal 9, no. 1 (2000).

Bonvillian, William. “The New Model Innovation Agencies: An Overview.” Science and Public Policy 41, no. 4 (2014): 425–437.

[TILS] Chapters 1–2, 11–12 (pp. 1–20, 181–213). Innovation Systems and the Challenge of Legacy Sectors.

7 The Organization of Innovation Systems at the Face-to-Face Level

Rosen, William. The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention. University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 35–39, 115–134. ISBN: 9780226726347.

Bennis, Warren and Patricia Ward Biederman. Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Basic Books, 1998, pp. 196–218. ISBN: 9780201339895.

Schein, Edgar, Peter DeLisi, et al. DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation. Berret-Koehler Publishers, 2004, pp. 123–169. ISBN: 9781576753057. [Preview with Google Books]

Read three of the six choices below:

  1. Evans, Harold, Gail Buckland, and David Lefer. They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators. Little, Brown and Company, 2004, pp. 152–171. ISBN: 9780316277662.
  2. Evans, Harold, Gail Buckland, and David Lefer. They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators. Little, Brown and Company, 2004, pp. 420–431. ISBN: 9780316277662.
  3. Bird, Kai and Martin Sherwin. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Vintage Books, 2006, pp. 205–228, 255–259, 268–285, 293–297. ISBN: 9780375726262. [Preview with Google Books]
  4. Daitch, Vicki and Lillian Hoddeson. True Genius: The Life and Science of John Bardeen: The Only Winner of Two Nobel Prizes in Physics. Joseph Henry Press, 2002, pp. 115–154. ISBN: 9780309095112.
  5. Morrow, Daniel. “Oral History: Dr. J Craig Venter.” Computerworld Honors Foundation International Archives, 2003, pp. 3–53, 56–58.
  6. Bennis, Warren and Patricia Ward Biederman. Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Basic Books, 1998, pp. 63–86. ISBN: 9780201339895.

8 DARPA as the Connected Model in the Innovation System: Government-Private Sector Interaction and the Example of Computing

Waldrop, Mitchell M. The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal. Viking Adult, 2001, pp. 119–134. ISBN: 9780670899760.

[TILS] Chapter 8 (pp. 119–134). DARPA’s role as a change agent within DOD.

Carleton, Tammy. “The Value of Vision in Radical Technological Innovation” PhD diss., Stanford University, 2010, pp. 62–116.

Fong, Glenn. “ARPA Does Windows: The Defense Underpinning of the PC Revolution (PDF).” Business and Politics 3, no. 3 (2001): 213–237.

Goodrich, Brandon. “Computer Networks—The Heralds of Resource Sharing (Arpanet, 1972).” YouTube. Jul 8, 2014.

Unit D: The Life Science and Energy Innovation Systems
9 The Life Science R&D Model: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. Enhancing the Vitality of the National Institutes of Health: Organizational Change to Meet New Challenges. The National Academies Press, 2003, pp. 1–101.

Cook-Deegan, Robert. “Does NIH Need a DARPA?” Issues in Science and Technology 13, no. 2 (1997).

Infectious Diseases Society of America. “Bad Bugs, No Drugs: As Antibiotic Discovery Stagnates… A Public Health Crisis Brews.” IDSA, 2004, pp. 3–28.

Food and Drug Administration. “Innovation or Stagnation: Challenge and Opportunity on the Critical Path to New Medical Technologies.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004.

[TILS] Chapter 7, subchapter on Health Delivery (pp. 112–118).

Morrow, Daniel. “Oral History: Dr. J Craig Venter.” Computerworld Honors Foundation International Archives, 2003, pp. 3–53, 56–58.

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “Report to the President on Propelling Innovation in Drug Discovery, Development, and Evaluation (PDF - 2.8MB).” Executive Office of the President, 2012, pp. v–xiv.

Convergence: The Future of Health.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016.

10 The Challenge of Energy Technology Transformation

Pacala, Stephen and Robert Socolow. “Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies.” Science 305, no. 5686 (2004): 968–972.

Bonvillian, William and Charles Weiss. “Taking Covered Wagons East: A New Innovation Theory for Energy and Other Established Technology Sectors.” Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization 4, no. 4 (2009): 289–300.

Robyn, Dorothy. “Statement of Dr. Dorothy Robyn Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Before the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Readiness March 29, 2012 (PDF).” Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, 2012.

Bonvillian, William and Richard Van Atta. “ARPA-E and DARPA: Applying the DARPA Model to Energy Innovation.” Journal of Technology Transfer (2011), Sections 1, 3, and 4B.

Bonvillian, William. “Applying Innovation Policy to the U.S. Energy/Climate Challenge.” In Delivering Energy Law and Policy in the EU and U.S. Edited by Raphael Heffron and Gavin Little. Edinburgh University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780748696789.

Bonvillian, William. “Addressing the Scaleup Challenge for ‘Hard’ Technology Startups.” Annals of Science and Technology 1, no. 1 (2017).

Recommended:

Socolow, Robert and Stephen Pacala. “A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check (PDF).” Scientific American (2006): 50–57.

Unit E: Improving the Innovation System: The Talent Base
11 Improving the Talent Base: New Education and Training Models

Augustine, Norman. “Is America Falling Off the Flat Earth?” The National Academies Press, 2007.

Romer, Paul. “Should the Government Subsidize Supply or Demand in the Market for Scientists and Engineers?” National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000.

Freeman, Richard. “Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership? (PDF)” National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005.

Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence Katz. “The Future of Inequality (PDF).” Milken Institute Review, July 2009: 26–33.

Baumol, William. “Education for Innovation: Entrepreneurial Breakthroughs Vs. Corporate Incremental Improvements (PDF).” National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004.

Wilcox, Karen, Sanjay Sarma, and Philip Lippel. “Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reforms (PDF - 5.1MB).” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016.

[TILS] Chapter 7, subchapter on Higher Education (pp. 96–112).

12 The Future of Work: The Employment-Productivity Debate

Brynjolfsson, Erik and Andrew McAfee. “Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy (PDF).” The MIT Center for Digital Business, 2012.

Autor, David. “Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 29, no. 3 (2015): 3–30.

Autor, David. “Skills, Education, and the Rise of Earnings Inequality Among the ‘Other 99 Percent.’Science 244, no. 6186 (2014): 843–851.

Mindell, David. Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy. Viking, 2015, pp. 1–11, 191–218. ISBN: 9780525426974.

Buy at MIT Press Bonvillian, William and Peter Singer. Advanced Manufacturing: The New American Innovation Policies. MIT Press, 2018. Chapter 9. ISBN: 9780262037037.

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Spring 2017
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Videos
Written Assignments
Lecture Notes