Introduction to "The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy"

In 1945, Vannevar Bush published Science: The Endless Frontier and thereby established an intellectual architecture that has largely defined public science institutions and policy in the decades since. In this NBER volume, we consider important dimensions upon which the nature of science and innovation has changed. By identifying critical dimensions of change, the contributions to this volume highlight new issues for policy and assess points of tension with Bush's initial vision. Collectively, the eleven papers in the volume investigate changes in (1) the organization of scientific research, (2) the geography of innovation, (3) modes of entrepreneurship, and (4) the structure of research institutions and science-innovation linkages. The introductory chapter provides an overview of these contributions and synthesizes key insights regarding these changes and their potential implications for policy.