Skip to main content

Science, Economics of

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 15 Accesses

Abstract

The importance of the economics of science is substantially due to the importance of science as a driver of technology, and technology as a driver of productivity and growth. Believing that science matters, economists have attempted to understand the behaviour of scientists and the operation of scientific institutions. One goal is to see how far science can be understood as a market, and how far the market for science and scientists can be understood as efficient. When inefficiency is found, a related goal is to propose changes in resource levels or incentives, to increase the speed of scientific advance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Ackermann, R. 1985. Data, instruments and theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, J. 1990. Fundamental stocks of knowledge and productivity growth. Journal of Political Economy 98: 673–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alchian, A. 1959. Private property and the relative cost of tenure. In The public stake in union power, ed. P. Bradley. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. 1962. Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for inventions. In The rate and direction of inventive activity: Economic and social factors, ed. R. Nelson. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. 2004. Foreword. In Reflections of eminent economists, ed. M. Szenberg and L. Ramrattan. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K., and W. Capron. 1959. Dynamic shortages and price rises: The engineer–scientist case. Quarterly Journal of Economics 73: 292–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D., B. Bozeman, K. Combs, M. Feldman, A. Link, D. Siegel, P. Stephan, G. Tassey, and C. Wessner. 2002. The economics of science and technology. Journal of Technology Transfer 27: 155–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babbage, C. 1830. Reflections on the decline of science in England, and on some of its causes. London: B. Fellowes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartley, W. III. 1990. Unfathomed knowledge, unmeasured wealth: On universities and the wealth of nations. LaSalle: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddle, J., and K. Roberts. 1994. Private sector scientists and engineers and the transition to management. Journal of Human Resources 29: 82–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blank, D., and G. Stigler. 1957. The demand and supply of scientific personnel. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, H., and R. Tollison. 1980. Rent seeking in academia. In Toward a theory of the rent-seeking society, ed. J. Buchanan, R. Tollison, and G. Tullock. College Station: Texas A & M University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brock, W., and S. Durlauf. 1999. A formal model of theory choice in science. Economic Theory 14: 113–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, H. 1988. Incentives in academics: Why is there tenure? Journal of Political Economy 96: 453–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, P., and P.A. David. 1994. Toward a new economics of science. Research Policy 23: 487–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, P., B. Hall, and A. Toole. 2000. Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence. Research Policy 29: 497–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1980. Age and the acceptance of cliometrics. Journal of Economic History 40: 838–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1984. An economic model of the life-cycle research productivity of scientists. Scientometrics 6: 189–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1986a. The life-cycle research productivity of mathematicians and scientists. Journal of Gerontology 41: 520–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1986b. What is a citation worth? Journal of Human Resources 21: 200–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1988a. The polywater episode and the appraisal of theories. In Scrutinizing science: Empirical studies of scientific change, ed. A. Donovan, L. Laudan, and R. Laudan. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1988b. Science as a rational enterprise. Theory and Decision 24: 147–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1996. The economics of science. Knowledge and Policy 9(2–3): 6–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 1999. Does federal funding ‘crowd in’ private funding of science? Contemporary Economic Policy 17: 423–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 2000. The complementarity of scientometrics and economics. In The web of knowledge: A Festschrift in honor of Eugene Garfield, ed. B. Cronin and H. Adkins. Medford: Information Today, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 2003. Edwin Mansfield’s contributions to the economics of technology. Research Policy 32: 1607–1617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 2004. Zvi Griliches’s contributions to the economics of technology and growth. Economics of Innovation and New Technology 13: 365–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, A. Jr. 2005. Measurement, incentives, and constraints in Stigler’s economics of science. European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 12: 637–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, R. 1984. Are workers paid their marginal products? American Economic Review 74: 549–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. 1975. Supply and salary adjustments to the changing science manpower market: Physics, 1948–1973. American Economic Review 65: 27–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, S. 1977. Wage trends as performance displays productive potential: A model and application to academic early retirement. Bell Journal of Economics 8: 419–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1981. An open letter on grants. Newsweek, May 18, 99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1994. National science foundation grants for economics: Correspondence. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(1): 199–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A., and M. Shaked. 1991. An economic model of scientific activity and truth acquisition. Philosophical Studies 63: 31–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goolsbee, A. 1998. Does government R&D policy mainly benefit scientists and engineers? American Economic Review 88: 298–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griliches, Z. 1957. Hybrid corn: An exploration in the economics of technological change. Econometrica 25: 501–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griliches, Z. 1958. Research cost and social returns: Hybrid corn and related innovations. Journal of Political Economy 66: 419–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griliches, Z. 1994. National science foundation grants for economics: Response. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(1): 203–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubel, H., and L. Boland. 1986. On the efficient use of mathematics in economics: Some theory, facts and results of an opinion survey. Kyklos 39: 419–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamermesh, D., G. Johnson, and B. Weisbrod. 1982. Scholarship, citations and salaries: Economic rewards in economics. Southern Economic Journal 49: 472–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hands, D. 1997. Caveat emptor: Economics and contemporary philosophy of science. Philosophy of Science 64(4): S107–S116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, R. 1995. Could gambling save science? Encouraging an honest consensus. Social Epistemology 9: 3–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, D. 1988. Science as a process: An evolutionary account of the social and conceptual development of science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, D., P. Tessner, and A. Diamond Jr. 1978. Planck’s principle: Do younger scientists accept new scientific ideas with greater alacrity than older scientists? Science 202: 717–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe, A. 1989. Real effects of academic research. American Economic Review 79: 957–969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe, A., M. Trajtenberg, and R. Henderson. 1993. Geographic localization of knowledge spillovers as evidenced by patent citations. Quarterly Journal of Economics 108: 577–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, H. 1972. Some economic aspects of science. Minerva 10: 10–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kealey, T. 1996. The economic laws of scientific research. New York: St Martin’s Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, L., and R. Studley. 1995. Economists’ salaries and lifetime productivity. Southern Economic Journal 62: 382–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher, P. 1993. The advancement of science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laband, D. 1986. Article popularity. Economic Inquiry 24: 173–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landes, D. 1969. The unbound prometheus: Technological change 1750 to the present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landes, D. 1998. The wealth and poverty of nations. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E. 1997. Incentives in basic research. Journal of Labor Economics 15: S167–S197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, S., P. Stephan, and M. Walker. 1995. Planck’s principle revisited: A note. Social Studies of Science 25: 275–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, D. 1988. The market for fame and fortune. History of Political Economy 20: 615–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovell, M. 1973. The production of economic literature: An interpretation. Journal of Economic Literature 11: 27–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, E. 1968. The economics of technological change. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, E. 1991. Academic research and industrial innovation. Research Policy 20: 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, E. 1992. Academic research and industrial innovation: A further note. Research Policy 21: 295–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martino, J. 1992. Science funding. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, J. 1982. Obsolescence of knowledge and career publication profiles: Some evidence of differences among fields in costs of interrupted careers. American Economic Review 72: 752–768.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, R. 1979. The economic basis of departmental discord in academe. Social Science Quarterly 59: 653–664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. 1968. The Matthew effect in science. Science 159(3810): 56–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mokyr, J. 1990. The lever of riches: Technological creativity and economic progress. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mokyr, J. 2002. The gifts of Athena: Historical origins of the knowledge economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mowery, D., and N. Rosenberg. 1989. Technology and the pursuit of economic growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R. 1959. The simple economics of basic scientific research. Journal of Political Economy 67: 297–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R. 1986. Institutions supporting technical advance in industry. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 76: 186–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. 1962. The republic of science: Its political and economic theory. Minerva 1: 54–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rees, A. 1993. The salaries of Ph.D.’s in academe and elsewhere. Journal of Economic Perspectives 7(1): 151–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogge, B., and P. Goodrich. 1973. Education in a free society. In Education in a free society, ed. A. Burleigh. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P. 1986. Increasing returns and long-run growth. Journal of Political Economy 94: 1002–1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P. 1990. Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Economy 98(5): S71–S102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P. 2001. Should the government subsidize supply or demand in the market for scientists and engineers? In Innovation policy and the economy, ed. A. Jaffe, J. Lerner, and S. Stern, vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, N. 1982. Inside the black box: Technology and economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, N. 1990. Why do firms do basic research (with their own money)? Research Policy 19: 165–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, N., and L. Birdzell Jr. 1986. How the West grew rich. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, R. 1988. Estimates of the returns to quality and coauthorship in economic academia. Journal of Political Economy 96: 855–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J. 1942. Capitalism, socialism, and democracy. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siow, A. 1984. Occupational choice under uncertainty. Econometrica 52: 631–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siow, A. 1998. Tenure and other unusual personnel practices in academia. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 14: 152–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. 1759 [1976]. The theory of moral sentiments. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. 1776 [1976]. An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Indianapolis: Liberty Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, P. 1996. The economics of science. Journal of Economic Literature 34: 1199–1235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, P. and D. Audretsch, eds. 2000. The economics of science and innovation. 2 vols. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, P., and S. Levin. 1992. Striking the Mother Lode in science: The importance of age, place, and time. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, S. 2004. Do scientists pay to be scientists? Management Science 50: 835–853.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G. 1965. Statistical studies in the history of economic thought. In Essays in the history of economics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G. 1976. The scientific uses of scientific biography, with special reference to J.S. Mill. In Papers of the centenary conference: James and John Stuart Mill, ed. J. Robson and M. Laine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G. 1978. The literature of economics: The case of the kinked oligopoly demand curve. Economic Inquiry 16(2): 185–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G., and G. Becker. 1977. De gustibus non est disputandum. American Economic Review 67(2): 76–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G., and C. Friedland. 1975. The citation practices of doctorates in economics. Journal of Political Economy 83: 477–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, G., and C. Friedland. 1979. The pattern of citation practices in economics. History of Political Economy 11: 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tullock, G. 1966. The organization of inquiry. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tullock, G. 1967. The welfare costs of tariffs, monopolies, and theft. Western Economic Journal 5: 224–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldman, M. 1990. Up-or-out contracts: A signaling perspective. Journal of Labor Economics 8: 230–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wible, J. 1998. The economics of science: Methodology and epistemology as if economics really mattered. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Diamond, A.M. (2018). Science, Economics of. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2350

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics