Sachar 128B, X62253 Office Hours: Tues. 11-12;

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Economics 141b Gary Jefferson

Spring 2017

Sachar 128b, x62253 Office hours: Tues. 11-12;

Wednesday, 3:30-4:30.

The Economics of Innovation

preliminary, subject to limited revisions and updates (1)

LEARNING GOALS: This course is intended to enable students to appreciate the role of innovation in economic growth and firm-level decision-making and public policy, including various perspectives on how knowledge is created, protected, transferred and diffused.

READINGS: The readings for this course are all drawn from papers and journal articles. There is no assigned textbook. Most of the readings are accessible on a Latte webpage for the course.

REQUIREMENTS: This course includes the following requirements: One mid-term exam (20%), a final exam (35%), one paper of 6-8 pages (30%), problem sets (5%), and in-class participation (10%).

Also:

Academic Integrity: “You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides. You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask.” (source: Brandeis University, Director of Academic Integrity)

Disabilities: “If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.”

Work Load: Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, research, etc.).

I. INTRODUCTION

Ruttan, Ch. 1, “Is Economic Growth Sustainable”

Gordon, Robert (2012), “Is U.S. Economic Growth Over? Faltering Innovation Confronts the Six Headwinds,” NBER working paper 17315.

Robert Gordon on TED, http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_gordon_the_death_of_innovation_the_end_of_growth.html

The Economist, Jan 12, 2013, “Has the ideas machine broken down?”

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21569381-idea-innovation-and-new-technology-have-stopped-driving- growth-getting-increasing

II.  LONG-RUN GROWTH: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

AND INSTITUTIONS

Van den Berg, Hendrik. 2001, Ch. 3, “The Evolution of Growth Models: from Adam Smith to Harrod-Domar,” Economic Development and Growth, McGraw Hill, Irwin. pp. 84-105. (Smith, Malthus, and Schumpeter).

Jones and Volrath, 2013, Ch. 2, “Solow Growth Model”

Easterly, William. 2001, Ch. 3, “Solow’s Surprise: Investment is Not the Key to Growth,”

Jones and Volrath, 2013, Ch. 5, “The Engine of Growth”

Easterly. 2001, Ch. 8, “Tales of Increasing Returns: Leaks, Matches, and Traps”

III.  MEASURING TECHNICAL CHANGE

Smith, Keith, 2005. “Measuring Innovation,” Ch. 6, Fagerberg, Mowery, and Nelson, The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press.

MID-TERM – March 6, 2017

Young, Alywn, 1995. “The Tyranny of Numbers: Confronting the Statistical Realities of the East Asian Growth Experience,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 110, No. 3. (Aug., 1995), pp. 641-680.

Hsieh, Chang-Tai, 1999. “Productivity Growth and Factor Prices in East Asia,” American Economic

Review,” 89,2:133-138.

IV.  PATENTS and PATENTING

Scotchmer, Ch. 4, “On the optimal design of intellectual property,” oo. 97-112.

Nagaoka, S, Motohashi K., and Goto, A., 2010, “Patent Statistics as an Innovation Indicator,” Handbooks in Economics, Vol 2, Elsevier.

Grabowski, Henry and John Vernon.1986, "Longer Patents for Lower Imitation Barriers: the 1984 Drug Act.” American Economic Review, May, pp.195-198.

Cohen, Nelson, and Walsh. 2000, Protecting Their Intellectual Assets: Appropriability Conditions and

Why U.S. Manufacturing Firms Patent (or Not), NBER Working Paper #7552.

The Economist,”A market for ideas,” October 22, 2005

Jaffe, Adam. and Lerner, Josh, 2004, “Introduction,” Innovation and Its Discontents, Princeton University Press.

V.  THE ECONOMICS OF R&D

Hall et al, Ch. 24, “Measuring the Returns to R&D,” in eds. Hall and Rosenberg, Economics of Innovation, North-Holland, 2010.

VI.  THE ECONOMICS OF INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION

Coase, Ronald H. (September 1992), “The Institutional Structure of Production,” American Economic Review, 82,4:713-719.

Mowery, David C. 1995, "The Boundaries of the U.S.Firm in R&D". in Lamoreaux and Raff eds. Op. Cit. pp.147-172.

North, Douglas C. (June 1994), “Economic Performance Through Time,” American Economic Review, 84,3:359-368.

Ruttan, Ch 4, “Sources of Institutional Innovation,” pp. 118-137 (Latte).

Lin, Justin Y.F (1987), “The Household Responsibility System Reform in China: A Peasant’s Institutional Choice,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 69:2: 410-415.

VII.  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER and DIFFUSION

Ruttan, Ch. 5, “Technology Adoption, Diffusion, and Transfer,” pp. 147-172.

Hall, Bronwyn H., 2006. “Innovation and Diffusion,” Ch. 17, Fagerberg, Mowery, and Nelson, The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press.

VIII. NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS AND

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

TRIPS (Trade-related intellectual property rights agreement), http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/t_agm0_e.htm

Cisco sues Huawei, http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/corp 012303.html

Mokyr, 2009. “Intellectual property rights, the industrial revolution, and the beginning of modern economic growth,” American Economic Review.

Lundvall, Bengt-Ake and Susana Borras, 2005. Fagerberg, Mowrey, and Nelson, 2005. The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press.

Everhardt, Helmers, and Yu, 2012. “Is the Dragon Learning to Fly: The Chinese Patent Explosion Home and Abroad, 27 February, 2012.

Romer, 1994. “New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions,” Journal of Development Economics.

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