Creativity-enhancing technological change in the production of scientific knowledge

Albert Link and John Scott

Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2020, vol. 29, issue 5, 489-500

Abstract: We view scientific publications as a measure of technical knowledge. Using the Solow method of functional decomposition and scientific publication data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, we find that 79% of the increase in scientific publications per unit of scientific personnel is explained by an increase in federal R&D capital per unit of scientific personnel. We describe the unexplained or residual 21% as a measure of creativity-enhancing technological change, a phenomenon that offers a way to reverse the perceived slowing of the productivity of science. The explained 79% offers a possible metric for federal laboratories’ mandated reporting of a ROI to federal R&D. Understanding the drivers of the residual 21% could enable public policy to mitigate the resource constraints caused by the breakdown of exponential growth of the resources devoted to science.

Date: 2020
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Working Paper: Creativity-Enhancing Technological Change in the Production of Scientific Knowledge* (2019)
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DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2019.1636449

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