Should knowledge creation be publicly or privately funded? This paper studies the shift in the U.S. innovation system towards the patentability and commercialization of the basic-research happened during the early 1980s. We interpret this change as rendering scientists and researchers responsive to “market” forces. Before 1980, universities researched by employing scientists motivated by “curiosity.” After 1980, scientists could patent their research and universities could behave as private firms. In a context of two-stage inventions (basic and applied research), this reform has a priori ambiguous effects on innovation and welfare. We build a Schumpeterian growth model and match it to the data to assess this critical turning point from the innovation and welfare perspectives.

知识创造应由公共还是私人资助？本文研究了美国创新体系向基础研究在1980年代初期发生的可专利性和商业化的转变。我们将这种变化解释为使科学家和研究人员对“市场”力量做出了回应。在1980年之前，大学通过聘用受“好奇心”激励的科学家进行研究。1980年以后，科学家可以为其研究申请专利，而大学可以充当私人公司。在两个阶段的发明（基础研究和应用研究）的背景下，这项改革对创新和福利产生了先验模糊的影响。我们建立了熊彼特式的增长模型，并将其与数据进行匹配，以便从创新和福利的角度评估这一关键的转折点。