03-100
SCIENCE AS A MAP IN TECHNOLOGICAL SEARCH
Lee Fleming and Olav Sorenson
A large body of work argues that scientific research increases
the rate of technological advance, and with it economic
growth. The precise mechanism through which science accelerated
the rate of invention, however, remains an open question.
Conceptualizing invention as a combinatorial search process,
this paper argues that science alters inventors' search
processes, by leading them more directly to useful combinations,
eliminating fruitless paths of research, and motivating
them to continue even in the face of negative feedback.
These mechanisms prove most useful when inventors attempt
to combine highly coupled components; therefore, the value
of scientific research to invention varies systematically
across applications. Empirical analyses of patent data
support this thesis.
4 Keywords: science, invention, recombinant
search, coupling
TOM
45 PAGES
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