9:00 AM Welcome
David Hart, George Mason University, Innovation Policy Forum co-chair
9:10 AM Introduction:
Benjamin Jones, Northwestern University, planning committee chair
9:30 AM Panel I: What are the returns to federal funding of basic research?
The social returns to R&D are typically estimated to be very high, and yet there
are difficult conceptual and empirical challenges in making accurate estimates,
especially with regard to basic research. This panel will discuss (1) the
theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence that bear on assessing the
returns to federally-funded basic research; (2) data limitations; and (3)
potentially fruitful directions for further research.
Pierre Azoulay, MIT
Benjamin Jones, Northwestern University
Samuel Kortum, Yale University
Robert Topel, University of Chicago
11:00 AM Coffee Break
11:15 AM Panel II: What are the social returns to direct private-sector innovation support?
Federal policy and institutions support private-sector innovation in numerous
ways, including R&D tax credits, procurement and prize mechanisms, SBIR
programs, and public-private venture funds, as well as the patent system.
This panel will discuss the existing frameworks and empirical evidence used
to evaluate the success of these programs and consider new opportunities to
better assess the social returns of these programs.
Sabrina Howell, New York University
Bhaven Sampat, Columbia University
Timothy Simcoe, Boston University
Heidi Williams, MIT
12:45 PM Break
1:00 PM Lunch Keynote Address
Understanding and Communicating the Value of Federal Support for Innovation
Jason Furman, Council of Economic Advisers
2:00 PM Panel III: What are the social returns to public investment in human capital
and infrastructure?
People, both in their creativity and capacity to implement new ideas, are an
essential input across the innovation landscape. Public infrastructure
investments, meanwhile, may also play essential roles by enhancing market
integration and access to general purpose technologies, like information
technology. This panel will assess frameworks and empirical evidence
regarding the role public investment in education and infrastructure play in
underpinning the innovation system, while further considering open questions
and opportunities to better understand the social returns of these investments.
Lee Branstetter, Carnegie Mellon University
Richard Freeman, Harvard University
Shane Greenstein, Harvard University
Paula Stephan, Georgia State University (via WebEx)
3:30 PM Coffee Break
3:45 PM Panel IV: Social Returns to Innovation in Light of Inequality
The social returns to innovation are typically considered for a representative consumer, but the rise in inequality in the last decades in the United States raises questions about the distribution of gains from the fruits of innovation. This panel will consider theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence that link the innovation process to the distribution of income, assess how the social returns to innovation may be viewed in light of any such linkages, and consider open questions and directions for future work.
Philippe Aghion, Harvard University and College de France (via WebEx)
Xavier Jaravel, Stanford University
Neviana Petkova, U.S. Department of Treasury
5:15 PM Adjourn
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