Knowledge Transfers from Federally Funded Research and Development Centers

Abstract

The findings from a study of the relationship between postdoctoral students and R&D at Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are presented in this paper. The goal of the study is not only to understand better knowledge transfers from publicly supported R&D but also to estimate the returns to R&D conducted in federally funded laboratories. Using public domain data related to FFRDCs, published by the US National Science Foundation, the R&D elasticity of doctoral students is estimated over the years 2010–2019 to be about 0.85. This estimate compares well to previous studies of the returns to publicly funded R&D.

Incentivizing knowledge institutions for entrepreneurship and society

“…Governmental actions range from infrastructure, supportive policies and financial assistance for entrepreneurs (Amor os et al, 2019a, b;McMullen et al, 2008) to the creation and management of places such as universities and laboratories where people (i.e. researchers and academic staff) exchange ideas to create knowledge useful for entrepreneurs and society (Link, 2021).…”

“…However, recent advances have extended this notion to the public sector. Although governments could be assumed as regulators affecting firm entry (Djankov et al, 2002;van Stel et al, 2007), this paper goes beyond the traditional vision and subscribes to the emerging trend, in which the public sector is an institution a la North (1990North ( , 2005 that incentivizes knowledge Demircioglu and Chowdhury, 2021;Link, 2021).…”

Vannevar Bush: A Public Sector Entrepreneur

“…These federal research centers were soon referred to as Federal Contract Research Centers (FCRCs) because their research programs were funded through federal contracts and because their employees-both their scientists and staff-were not federal employees (Link, 2021). The next research center was the Naval Operations Research Group, which later became the Center for Naval Analysis (Carnegie Mellon University, 2017;Link, 2021). These research centers represented the organizational harbinger of what eventually was to become Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs).…”

“…The National Defense Research Committee encouraged, and was also successful in attracting, civilian scientists to military research(Link, 2021).5 AsZachary (1997) pointed out, industry could not be counted on for an uninterrupted supply of basic research funding. Their primary investment focus was on product development.…”

Public support of innovative activity in small and large firms in Mexico

“…See for example, studies related to the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program: Audretsch et al, (2002); Leyden and Link (2015); Link and Oliver (2020); and Link and Scott (2010). Relatedly, see Link (2021) on innovations resulting from publicly funded R&D performed in U.S. federal laboratories. 13 See, for example, Goel and Nelson (2021) for a multinational analysis in which Mexico is one of the countries considered.…”