Description, literature & exam:
Part 1: The organization of science
Instructor: Henry Sauermann
Part 2: Innovation, intellectual property rights and the market for technology
Instructor: Stefan Wagner
Science and innovation are central to economic growth, social welfare, and firms’ ability to create and capture value. This course will cover key issues in science and innovation, as seen from the perspective of management scholars, economists, and sociologists.
This course has multiple objectives:
- Give you a “feeling” for what science looks like and how science works. Towards this end, we will discuss a range of descriptive studies and you will interview a person “in the field”. As a result, you should be able to identify interesting research questions and find data to address them.
- Give you an overview of the literature on the organization of science and innovation and point out pieces from other literatures that may provide complementary perspectives. By discussing “classics” as well as cutting-edge research, we will examine how various theoretical lenses and methodological tools can be used to advance knowledge of the science and innovation system. As a result, you should be able to critically evaluate prior work, see connections between different streams of literature, identify gaps in the literature, and design your own research projects in this area.
- Encourage you to make connections between science and innovation as an object of study and as an institution in which we, as research scholars, operate. While much of the prior literature focuses on the natural (“hard”) sciences, many of the general issues apply to the social sciences as well. As a result, you should be able to gain a deeper understanding of your own institutional environment, allowing you to become a more effective research scholar.
- Foster an understanding of theoretical and predominantly empirical work taking a micro perspective on the complex processes leading to innovation and incentivizing private companies to invest in risky R&D projects.
For details, please refer to the syllabus of Part I. The syllabus for Part II will be shared shortly.
Time & venue:
Lectures: Thursdays, 10:00-13:00; see schedule for course venue
