A reading list for university research policy Pt. II

This is Part II of the reading list, focused on the role of the state in funding research. Most of what you see below is from around the WWII period in the USA. Largely prompted by the wartime efforts, the social value of science was hotly debated, and with it, what roles for government? See Part I here, which covers the guiding principle that research policy shapes research practice.

Mariana Mazzucato, The Entrepreneurial State.

Why read it? First, because it is the kernel that underpins more recent work Mazzucato has been doing with the EC around mission-based innovation and funding mechanisms, which is really interesting. More importantly, in this work she demonstrates how the state has been the funder of the largest breakthrough innovations that underpin companies like Apple. This debunks the idea that free markets alone drive innovation and growth, which is her main point: the success of the private sector is underwritten by the public investment in research.

Jon Gertner, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Why read it? The sheer volume of groundbreaking inventions and research that cam out of this group is simply astounding. More astounding is the fact that much of it was driven by wartime effort of WWII. As with the above, the role of the state is what is most important here. Under the leadership of Vannevar Bush and his belief in the fundamental role of research in national security, Bell Labs received massive amounts of funding to develop new technologies, drawing on the best researchers out of university labs. The model here goes beyond that outlined by Mazzucato, even - this is direct funding by government of breakthrough R&D in the private sector, directly seeding new markets.

Ben R. Rich, The Skunkworks: A personal memoir of my years at Lockheed

Why read it? Government procurement as a driver of innovation. This is part 'boys own adventure' story, part R&D management manual, and part demonstration of the power of government procurement to be a catalyst for innovation. Basically, the Skunkworks at Lockheed - responsible for, among other things, the U2 and the F117 Stealth - lived off of defence contracts, often times for speculative technologies such as flying altitudes >70,000ft or stealth technology. The innovations here earned the company $100's of millions, but would not have been possible without the government procurement contracts up front. Again, well beyond the simple 'state as catalyst' model outlined in Mazzucato.

Vannevar Bush, Science the Endless Frontier

Why read it? Bush's outline of how to transition from a scientific community mobilised in defence of the nation in WWII, to publicly funded research for the betterment of mankind. This is basically a treatise for why government funding of basic research is so important to jobs, growth, wellbeing and defence.

JD Bernal, The Social Function of Science

Why read it? A Marxist's treatment of all of the above. Very similar take home messages, which is interesting in its own right - science should be the domain of governments, its ultimate aim is to improve lives etc. This work also includes the first attempts to record R&D spending on a national scale, something we take for granted nowadays. For those interested (this might be the focus of a future post) check out the debates between Bernal and Michael Polanyi on academic freedom, and the extent to which academics should be in service of the state. This is where the role of the state gets really very interesting, when it is considered in the broader politicla system of liberalism!