Research and development (R and D) leads to innovation, and innovation
leads to technological change. Technological change, in turn, is the
primary driver of economic growth. Public/private partnerships --
cooperative relationships among industry, government, and/or
universities -- leverage the efficiency of R and D and are thus a
critical aspect of a nation's innovation system.
This text is intended for upper-level undergraduate and MBA courses such
as Economics and Technology, Economics of Innovation, and Economics of
Science and Technology, among others. The first chapter introduces the
concept of public/private research partnerships along with other
concepts fundamental to an understanding of innovation and technology
policy. The framework chapters (2-5) set forth an argument for the
public's role - government's role - in innovation in general and in
public/private partnership in particular. The remaining chapters (6-14)
describe a number of public/private partnerships and, to the extent
possible, evaluate their social impact.