I don’t think we necessarily need more economic theory related to innovation, unless it’s informed by new data and facts (which it is sometimes!). I just feel like we had that in spades for decades.
The biggest blindspot for economists of innovation that I worry about is that, actually, incentives just don’t matter as much as we think. Engineering innovation may be much more a problem of finding the right people (not just right skills, but have a creative personality open to novel solutions), bringing the right people together, and so on. I’m not sure the right field to learn from on these topics though; still it’s something I think a lot about!
What areas of economics do you think the economics of science and innovation might want to draw upon more? More theory? More behavioral economics?
I don’t think we necessarily need more economic theory related to innovation, unless it’s informed by new data and facts (which it is sometimes!). I just feel like we had that in spades for decades.
The biggest blindspot for economists of innovation that I worry about is that, actually, incentives just don’t matter as much as we think. Engineering innovation may be much more a problem of finding the right people (not just right skills, but have a creative personality open to novel solutions), bringing the right people together, and so on. I’m not sure the right field to learn from on these topics though; still it’s something I think a lot about!