Loyd E. Eskildson:
'State of Innovation' is a collection of articles on the topic, aimed at moving past stale state-versus-market debates built on 18th-century theorizing. The authors see both government and private entrepreneurship playing central roles - the critical question is how to create positive synergies between the two.
The introduction provides a brief summary of government's role in innovation to-date, pointing out that as early as the 1820's army engineers ere building canals and lighthouses, and improving river navigation, that U.S. industrialization began behind high tariff walls from Hamilton's day through the 19th century, that Lincoln launched the building of the intercontinental railway and presided over the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the start of land grant colleges. Then there was the Manhattan Project, with Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, and Sandia Labs, NASA, and DARPA - the latter being the origin of the Internet.
The book's most significant findings are based on reviews of the R&D 100 Award winners from R&D Magazine. From 1971 the number of awards given Fortune 500 firms fell from about 40 to 4 (2006), though these data exclude major computer and drug firms. (Only 2 drugs received the 'Golden Pill' award between 1997-2006, and 12 others took 2nd place nominations as clear advances over existing therapies - thus, drug inclusion would not have made much difference.) Similarly, the proportion of U.S. corporate patents by G.E., Kodak, AT&T, DuPont, G.M., Dow Chemical, 3M, United Technologies, and Ford fell from 10% in 1971 to 4.5% in 2006 - evidence that large corporations cut back on R&D, relying instead on licensing and acquisitions. Meanwhile, awards to SBIR (< 500 employees) firms increased from 0 (1971) to 1 (1982) to 22 (2006).
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