Science and R&D

The Case for Improving America’s Research and Experimentation Tax Credit
As recently as the mid-1990s, the United States maintained the most generous R&D tax incentive in the world. As scholarly studies have shown, that helped America stay ahead of its competitors by boosting R&D investment, innovation, jobs, and GDP growth. Fast forward to today, and it’s a very different picture.
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Science and R&D
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September 10, 2018
Fact of the Week: Federal R&D Contracts That Operate as Cooperative Agreements are More Likely to Result in Patents
Federal funding of private R&D comes in two forms: grants, in which the government has very little interaction with the research decisions made, and cooperative agreements, in which the government has significant control over research decisions and much more detailed project monitoring. Whether this higher level of government involvement hinders researchers by increasing bureaucracy or ensures that funding is not misallocated is hotly contested, but a paper released in June gives reason to believe that cooperative agreements are used well.
August 20, 2018
Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality
In a book review for the New York Journal of Books, Rob Atkinson writes that “Never Lost Again” is a first-class business story, illuminating broader lessons that are easy to overlook when we think about high-tech startups.
July 30, 2018
Comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Regarding Federal Technology Transfer Authorities and Processes
While the U.S. government should expand federal support for scientific research, it also should improve the efficiency with which federally funded knowledge creation leads to innovation and jobs.
June 21, 2018
The Politics of Innovation: Why Some Countries Are Better Than Others at Science and Technology
ITIF hosted a discussion with author Mark Zachary Taylor to better understand the politics of innovation and the implications for the United States.
June 4, 2018
Why U.S. Business R&D Is Not as Strong as It Appears
Business R&D growth over the past three decades has been anemic, and companies are focusing more on near-term product development, less on basic and applied research. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is cutting support for research while many other countries are expanding support.
January 8, 2018
Industry Funding of University Research: Which States Lead?
All states, but especially the laggards, would benefit from policies to attract more industry research funding, particularly as such funding appears to generate technology-based economic activity.
December 11, 2017
Fact of the Week: Technology-Based Economic Development Programs Generated 1,300 Additional Tech-Based Jobs Per Year Between 1981 and 2000
For the average state, tech-based economic development programs provide an additional 1,300 tech-based jobs a year, while an additional year’s commitment to the SBIR provides 2,000 more jobs, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.
December 4, 2017
Innovation Fact of the Week: NIH Would Need an Additional $11.6 Billion to Bring its Funding Back to Where it was in 2003 as a Share of GDP
For the U.S. government to restore National Institutes of Health funding to a level comparable to 2003, it would have had to allocate an additional $11.6 billion dollars last year, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.
November 28, 2017
How Technology-Based Start-Ups Support U.S. Economic Growth
The number of technology-based start-ups surged 47 percent in the last decade. These firms still account for a relatively small share of all businesses, but they have an outsized impact on economic growth, because they provide better-paying, longer-lasting jobs than other start-ups, and they contribute more to innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.
November 28, 2017
The State of Technology-Based Startups in the U.S. Economy
Technology-based startups are key drivers of America’s economic growth because they make outsized contributions to employment, innovation, and productivity. Unfortunately, policymakers tend to focus indiscriminately on helping small business startups without specifically targeting technology-based startups that have high growth potential. How can policymakers support the formation and success of new technology firms at the national and local level?

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