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Science and innovation policy
Innovation is a major driver of productivity improvements and scientific research is one source of innovation.
Motu's Senior Associate, Adam Jaffe, is working with MBIE and several research organisations on a framework that can evaluate the economic and broader social benefits of publicly funded research. He also also examines the effectiveness of different funding mechanisms for scientific research.
You can watch a video of Adam talking about Re-inventing the Kiwi: How to make New Zealand a land of innovation at The University of Auckland's Business School.
Our research focus
Motu’s current and recent research in science and innovation policy includes:
- Appropriate public policy and funding strategies for encouraging research and innovation.
- The role of innovation and new technology in fighting climate change.
Publications
Research Funding and Collaboration
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Ben Davies | Jason Gush | Shaun C. Hendy
Article
We analyse whether research funding contests promote co-authorship. Our analysis combines Scopus publication records with data on applications to the Marsden Fund, the premiere source of funding for basic research in New Zealand. On average,…
Science and Innovation Policy for New Zealand
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
Adam Jaffe presented on the ‘Science of Science Policy’ at a Motu Public Policy Series lecture. This presentation was later expanded into a New Zealand Science Review article. In particular, the presentation examined:
Policy goals
Policy levers
The…
Research 'stars' in New Zealand: concentration, persistence and mobility
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Dom White | Kate Preston
Other
Research has its ‘stars’.
Stardom waxes and wanes, but
stars don’t often leave.
‘Star’ researchers—those who produce the most influential research outputs—have been shown to play an important role in the overall impact of a country’s…
Bibliometric Analysis of New Zealand Research Performance: Measurement and Classification Issues
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Kate Preston
Other
Bibliometrics.
Look at New Zealand science.
Good but not stellar.
Bibliometric databases on publications and their citations offer the possibility to quantify the scale and impact of this key output of scientific research. But there…
Effective operation of competitive research funding systems
Author: Adam Jaffe
Article
In OECD countries, much science funding is allocated via competitive mechanisms. Competitive funding schemes are widely favoured for being the optimal method for not only evaluating but also encouraging scientific excellence, in a process that…
The Impact of Science and the Science of Impact
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
This is Adam Jaffe's presentation to the NZAS Conference.
Funders of research have an obligation to measure and seek to maximize the effectiveness of their programmes in terms of their public objectives. While advancement of science is…
The effect of public funding on research output: the New Zealand Marsden Fund
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Athene Laws | Victoria Larsen | Jason Gush
Working Paper
We should fund research.
But trying to choose the best
Doesn’t work too well.
The Marsden Fund is the premiere funding mechanism for blue skies research in New Zealand. In 2014, $56 million was awarded to…
Promoting Innovation in the Private Sector
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
There’s controversy around the exact timetable, but general agreement that, over approximately the next 4 decades, GHG emissions have to be drastically reduced.
If we succeed, it is very likely that major components of the 2050…
Measuring Science, Technology, and Innovation: A Review
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Bronwyn H Hall
Other
An “indicator” is a set of facts or observations that tells us something meaningful about the underlying phenomenon of interest, in this case science, technology and innovation (henceforth STI). In order to evaluate whether a particular set…
Induced innovation and technology trajectory: Evidence from smoking cessation products
Author: Adam Jaffe
Article
Economic theory predicts that policies that discourage the consumption of a particular good will induce innovation in a socially desirable substitute. However, the literature on technology trajectories emphasizes the possibility of innovation waves associated with…
Science and Innovation in Small Countries: Speculation and Research Agenda
Author: Adam Jaffe
Article
The phenomenon of “spillovers” of R&D means that small countries can benefit from the research and innovation investment of larger countries, but also need a strategy for capturing locally the benefits of local research and…
Has New Zealand Benefited from Its Investments in Research and Development?
Authors: Steven Stillman | Robin Johnson | Weshah Razzak
Article
We use panel data for nine industries to evaluate research and development (R&D) investments in New Zealand over the past forty years.
We estimate the impact of R&D stocks in a particular industry on output per…
Technology Policy and Climate Change
Author: Adam Jaffe
Article
There is a strong foundation in theoretical and empirical research in economics for the proposition that efficient climate policy must include both carbon-price policy and technology policy. Even the most modest projections of Greenhouse Gas…
Science and Innovation Policy for New Zealand
Author: Adam Jaffe
Article
The "Science of Science Policy" is an interdisciplinary field of scholarly study that seeks to model, measure, and evaluate the interaction of public policies (including funding) and the performance of the science and innovation system.
Such…
National R&D and Patenting: Is New Zealand an Outlier?
Authors: Arthur Grimes | Richard Fabling | Ron Crawford | Nick Bonne
Article
We analyse patterns of national R&D and patenting activity across developed countries, accounting for factors that may impact on small, distant countries.
Once we control for the effects of economic size, distance, sectoral composition and firm…
The Economics of Science and Science Policy
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
“Science and innovation have crucial roles in achieving high-quality economic, social and environmental outcomes for New Zealand.” Draft National Statement of Science Investment Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment May 2014
The Economics of Open Innovation
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
Adam Jaffe presented this talk to the Open Access and Research Conference at Queensland University of Technoloyg in 2013. In it he discussed:
Copyright protects expression, Patent protects functionality
Hence open access will not, cannot, allow “use” in functional…
Science and Innovation in Small Countries: Speculation and Research Agenda
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
Adam Jaffe gave the Keynote Address to the Asia Pacific Innovation Conference in Taiwan in 2013. He concentrated on spillovers, the good news and bad news for small countries:
Agglomeration and innovation
Research investment in small dollops
Business R&D…
The "Science of Science Policy": Reflections on the Important Questions and the Challenges They Present
Author: Adam Jaffe
Presentation
Developing the "Science of Science Policy" will require data collection and analysis related to the processes of innovation and technological change, and the effects of government policy on those processes.
There has been much work on…
Diffusion of Green Technology: A Survey
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Isabelle Sin | Corey Allan
Article
This paper surveys the existing literature on diffusion of environmentally beneficial technology. Overall, it confirms many of the lessons of the larger literature on technology diffusion:
diffusion often appears slow when viewed from the outside;
the flow…
Diffusion of Green Technology: A Survey
Authors: Adam Jaffe | Isabelle Sin | Corey Allan
Working Paper
This paper surveys the existing literature on diffusion of environmentally beneficial technology.
Overall, it confirms many of the lessons of the larger literature on technology diffusion:
diffusion often appears slow when viewed from the outside;
the flow of…
A Framework for Evaluating the Beneficial Impacts of Publicly Funded Research
Author: Adam Jaffe
Note
Many public entities are interested in empirical estimation of the overall impact, in terms of benefits to citizens, of publicly funded research. These include:
increased incomes,
better health,
cleaner environment,
enhancement of social and cultural values, and
any other benefit…
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