2016
Chapter
Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 16

Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions

By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani

Format:Print

Abstract

This paper discusses several challenges in designing field experiments to better understand how organizational and institutional design shapes innovation outcomes and the production of knowledge. We proceed to describe the field experimental research program carried out by our Crowd Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University to clarify how we have attempted to address these research design challenges. This program has simultaneously solved important practical innovation problems for partner organizations, like NASA and Harvard Medical School, while contributing research advances, particularly in relation to innovation contests and tournaments.

Keywords

Organizational Design; Research; Knowledge; Innovation and Invention

Citation

Boudreau, Kevin J., and Karim R. Lakhani. "Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions." In Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 16, edited by William R. Kerr, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern, 135–167. National Bureau of Economic Research, and University of Chicago Press, 2016.