In looking back on my old blog posts, I came across this phenomenal resource. It is a phenomenal self-directed online course by Matt Clancy: the Economics of Innovation. See below for an excerpt of some readings I enjoy from the class.
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Why study innovation? “We Need a New Science of Progress” (2019) by Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen
Where do ideas come from? Do new ideas come from new knowledge? Summary of the Report: “Science: The Endless Frontier” (1945) by Vannevar Bush.
Is innovation about combining different things in a new way? Research Digest: “Recombinant Growth” (1998) by Martin Weitzman
What background factors matter for innovation? Why do big cities generate more ideas? (1) “Why Big Cities Promote Less Innovation Than They Once Did” (2015) by Eric Jaffe (write-up of “Cities and Ideas” by Packalen and Bhattacharya) and (2) “The Geography of Innovation” (2017) by Richard Florida (write-up of “The Geography of Unconventional Innovation” by Berkes and Gaetani)
How is innovation affected by institutions? Podcast: “How Violence Limits Economic Activity” (2019) on Planet Money (discussion of “Violence and Economic Activity: Evidence from African American Patents, 1870-1940” (2014) by Lisa Cook)
Why do so many people accept things as they are? (1) “Is Innovation in Human Nature?” (2016) by Anton Howes and (2) Non-technical summary: “Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation” (2018) by Alex Bell, Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Nevianna Petkova, and John Van Reenen
Which is better: secrecy or intellectual property rights? (1) 1-9: “Patents and Innovation: Evidence from Economic History” (2013) by Petra Moser. and (2) Excerpt: “The Nature and Function of the Patent System” (1977) by Edmund Kitch
What about innovation prizes? “Incentivizing Innovation: Adding to the Tool Kit” (2010) by Michael Kremer and Heidi Williams
Can we boost innovation by increasing the supply of scientists? “Does Government R&D Policy Mainly Benefit Scientists and Engineers?” (1998) by Austan Goolsbee.
How should we organize to make innovation happen? (1) Excerpt: “Funding Breakthrough Research: Promises and Challenges of the ‘ARPA model’ ” by Pierre Azoulay, Erica Fuchs, Anna Goldstein, and Michael Kierney and (2) “Google X and the Science of Creativity” by Derek Thompson (2017)
What have been the big inventions? (1) “What’s Next for the Future of American Innovation?” (2018) by Andrew Van Dam (write-up of “Measuring Innovation over the Long-Run” by Brian Kelly, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Amit Seru, and Matt Taddy)
Is innovation getting harder? (1) Research Digest (coming): “Are Ideas getting Harder to Find?” (2019) by Nicholas Bloom, Charles Jones, John Van Reenen, and Michael Webb.
Or is the singularity approaching? “The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence: Parts 1 and 2” (2015) by Tim Urban.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)