TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jones, Benjamin
TI  - As Science Evolves, How Can Science Policy?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 16002
PY  - 2010
Y2  - May 2010
DO  - 10.3386/w16002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16002
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16002.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Benjamin Jones
Northwestern University
Kellogg School of Management
Department of Management and Strategy
2211 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL  60208
Tel: 847/491-3177
Fax: 847/467-1777
E-Mail: bjones@kellogg.northwestern.edu
M1  - published as Benjamin F. Jones. "As Science Evolves, How Can Science Policy?," in Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, editors, "Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 11" University of Chicago Press (2010)

M3  - presented at "Innovation Policy and the Economy 2010", April 20, 2010
AB  - Getting science policy right is a core objective of government that bears on scientific advance, economic growth, health, and longevity. Yet the process of science is changing. As science advances and knowledge accumulates, ensuing generations of innovators spend longer in training and become more narrowly expert, shifting key innovations (i) later in the life cycle and (ii) from solo researchers toward teams.  This paper summarizes the evidence that science has evolved - and continues to evolve - on both dimensions.  The paper then considers science policy. The ongoing shift away from younger scholars and toward teamwork raises serious policy challenges. Central issues involve (a) maintaining incentives for entry into scientific careers as the training phase extends, (b) ensuring effective evaluation of ideas (including decisions on patent rights and research grants) as evaluator expertise narrows, and (c) providing appropriate effort incentives as scientists increasingly work in teams.  Institutions such as government grant agencies, the patent office, the science education system, and the Nobel Prize come under a unified focus in this paper.  In all cases, the question is how these institutions can change. As science evolves, science policy may become increasingly misaligned with science itself - unless science policy evolves in tandem.
ER  -