The Role of Technology in Research and Innovation: A Taxonomy of Implications

Abstract

Innovation is fundamentally dependent on the support of research technology. Governments and organizations have been spending billions of dollars to develop research technologies such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Hadron Collider. Yet, our understanding of how specific attributes of research technologies affect the productivity and diversity of innovation, and hence economic growth, remains limited. We build on prior empirical work to develop the basis of a conceptual framework that provides guidance on how to more systematically evaluate the role of several research technology attributes for innovation. The model produces empirically testable implications that provide avenues for future research to inform policymakers and innovation managers about the levers that optimize the role of research technology in innovation.

Keywords: Research Technologies, Knowledge Production, Innovation

JEL Classification: O30, O31, O33, O39