A new article by Prof. Keller (with Fred Block) highlights the role that government innovation programs have played in transforming the U.S. innovation system. Whereas the development of new technologies was once dominated by large, vertically integrated firms, since the 1980s an increasingly ‘networked’ innovation environment has emerged in which small firms play a central role. But why did this shift emerge? Though the causes are complex and multi-faceted, Keller and Block document the largely unknown but critical contribution of a small government program – the Small Business Innovation Research program – in catalyzing the transformation.
An abstract and link to the article (subscription or institutional access required for full article), in the journal Socio-Economic Review, can be accessed here.