The applied value of public investments in biomedical research
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newBasic-Applied_3-17-2017-Pierre-Azoulay.pdf
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Author(s)
Li, Danielle
Sampat, Bhaven N.
Azoulay, Pierre
Date Issued
March 2017
Journal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Li, Danielle, Pierre Azoulay, and Bhaven N. Sampat. “The Applied Value of Public Investments in Biomedical Research.” Science 356, no. 6333 (March 30, 2017): 78–81. © 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Scientists and policy-makers have long argued that public investments in science have practical applications. Using data on patents linked to U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants over a 27-year period, we provide a large-scale accounting of linkages between public research investments and subsequent patenting. We find that about 10% of NIH grants generate a patent directly but 30% generate articles that are subsequently cited by patents. Although policy-makers often focus on direct patenting by academic scientists, the bulk of the effect of NIH research on patenting appears to be indirect. We also find no systematic relationship between the “basic” versus “applied” research focus of a grant and its propensity to be cited by a patent.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal0010
