National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

Measuring the Impacts of
Federal Investments in
Research

A WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Steve Olson and Stephen Merrill, Rapporteurs

Committee on Measuring Economic and Other Returns
on
Federal Research Investments

Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

Policy and Global Affairs

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS     500 Fifth Street,     N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. SMA-1019816 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation; Contract/Grant No. N01-OD-4-2139, TO #231, between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health; Contract/Grant No. G104P00159 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Geological Survey; Contract/Grant No. 59-9000-0-0093 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Contract/Grant No. EP-11-H-001414 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency; Contract/Grant No. DE-SC000614 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Energy; Contract/Grant No. NNH10CC488,TO #5, between the National Academy of Sciences and NASA. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project

International Standard Book Number -13:978-0-309-21748-4
International Standard Book Number -10:0-309-21748-2

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu.

Cover: The cover design incorporates a feature of the 1924 National Academy of Sciences building in Washington. Sculpted by Lee Lawrie, the bronze cheneau, running the length of the roof, features alternating figures of owls and lynxes, symbolizing wisdom and alert observation, respectively.

Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

COMMITTEE ON MEASURING ECONOMIC AND OTHER RETURNS ON FEDERAL RESEARCH INVESTMENTS

NEAL LANE (Co-Chair), Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Rice University

BRONWYN HALL (Co-Chair), Professor of Economics, University of California at Berkeley and University of Maastricht

ALAN GARBER, Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor and Professor of Medicine; Director, Center for Health Policy, Stanford University

PAULA STEPHAN, Professor of Economics, Georgia State University

PRABHU PINGALI, Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Global Development Program, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

WALTER POWELL, Professor of Education, Stanford University and External Professor, The Santa Fe Institute

DAVID GOLDSTON, Director, Government Affairs, Natural Resources Defense Council

ALEXANDER FRIEDMAN, Chief Investment Officer, UBS Wealth Management

JOHN STASKO, Professor and Associate Chair, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

ALFRED SPECTOR, Vice President of Research and Special Initiatives, Google, Inc.

ERIC WARD, President, The Two Blades Foundation

NEELA PATEL, Director of External Research, Global Pharmaceutical R and D, Abbott Laboratories

MICHAEL TURNER, Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago

Staff

STEPHEN A. MERRILL, Project Director

GURUPRASAD MADHAVAN, Program Officer and Project Co-director

KEVIN FINNERAN, Director, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

STEVE OLSON, Consultant Writer

DANIEL MULLINS, Program Associate

CYNTHIA GETNER, Financial Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

BOARD ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC POLICY

National Research Council

PAUL JOSKOW (Chair), President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

LEWIS COLEMAN, President, DreamWorks Animation

JOHN DONOVAN, Chief Technology Officer, AT and T

ALAN GARBER, Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor and Professor of Medicine; Director, Center for Health Policy, Stanford University

RALPH GOMORY, President Emeritus, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

MARY GOOD, Donaghey University Professor and Dean Emeritus, Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

RICHARD LESTER, Professor and Department Head, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

AMORY HOUGHTON, Jr., Former Member of Congress

DAVID MORGENTHALER, Founding Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures

WILLIAM MEEHAN, Lecturer in Strategic Management and Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Director Emeritus, McKinsey and Company

JOSEPH NEWHOUSE, John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director, Division of Health Policy Research and Education, Harvard University

EDWARD PENHOET, Director, Alta Partners

ARATI PRABHAKAR, General Partner, U.S. Venture Partners

WILLIAM RADUCHEL, Strategic Advisor and Independent Director

KATHYRN SHAW, Earnest C. Arbuckle Professor of Economics, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

LAURA D'ANDREA TYSON, S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

HAL VARIAN, Chief Economist, Google, Inc.

ALAN WM. WOLFF, Of Counsel, Dewey and LeBoeuf LLP

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

Ex-Officio Members

RALPH CICERONE, President, National Academy of Sciences

CHARLES VEST, President, National Academy of Engineering

HARVEY FINEBERG, President, Institute of Medicine

Staff

STEPHEN A. MERRILL, Executive Director

CHARLES WESSNER, Program Director

SUJAI SHIVAKUMAR, Senior Program Officer

DAVID DIERKSHEIDE, Program Officer

MCALISTER CLABAUGH, Program Officer

PAUL BEATON, Program Officer

CYNTHIA GETNER, Financial Associate

DANIEL MULLINS, Program Associate

DAVID DAWSON, Program Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND PUBLIC POLICY

National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine

GEORGE WHITESIDES (Chair), Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor, Harvard University

LINDA ABRIOLA, Dean of Engineering, Tufts University

CLAUDE CANIZARES, Vice President for Research, Associate Provost and Bruno Rossi Professor of Experimental Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MOSES CHAN, Evan Pugh Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University

RALPH CICERONE (Ex-Officio), President, National Academy of Sciences

PAUL CITRON, Retired Vice President, Technology Policy and Academic Relations, Medtronic, Inc.

RUTH DAVID, President and Chief Executive Officer, ANSER (Analytic Services), Inc.

HARVEY FINEBERG (Ex-Officio), President, Institute of Medicine

JUDITH KIMBLE, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin

DAN MOTE, Jr. (Ex-Officio), President and Glenn Martin Institute Professor of Engineering, University of Maryland

PERCY PIERRE, Vice President and Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

ALBERT REECE, Vice President for Medical Affairs, Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore

SUSAN SCRIMSHAW, President, The Sage Colleges

WILLIAM SPENCER, Chairman Emeritus, SEMATECH

MICHAEL TURNER, Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

CHARLES VEST (Ex-Officio), President, National Academy of Engineering

NANCY WEXLER, Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology, Columbia University

Staff

KEVIN FINNERAN, Director

THOMAS ARRISON, Senior Program Officer

GURUPRASAD MADHAVAN, Program Officer

PETER HUNSBERGER, Financial Associate

MARION RAMSEY, Administrative Associate

NEERAJ GORKHALY, Research Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: George Bo-Linn, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Susan Cozzens, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kenneth Gertz, University of Maryland; Diana Hicks, Georgia Institute of Technology; and Peter Hussey, RAND Corporation.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R12
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R13
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13208.
×
Page R14
Next: 1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW »
Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research: A Workshop Summary Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $54.00 Buy Ebook | $43.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

The enactment of the America COMPETES Act in 2006 (and its reauthorization in 2010), the increase in research expenditures under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and President Obama's general emphasis on the contribution of science and technology to economic growth have all heightened interest in the role of scientific and engineering research in creating jobs, generating innovative technologies, spawning new industries, improving health, and producing other economic and societal benefits. Along with this interest has come a renewed emphasis on a question that has been asked for decades: Can the impacts and practical benefits of research to society be measured either quantitatively or qualitatively?

On April 18-19, 2011, the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) and the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, held a workshop to examine this question. The workshop sought to assemble the range of work that has been done in measuring research outcomes and to provide a forum to discuss its method. The workshop was motivated by a 2009 letter from Congressman Rush Holt (D-New Jersey). He asked the National Academies to look into a variety of complex and interconnected issues, such as the short-term and long-term economic and non-economic impact of federal research funding, factors that determine whether federally funded research discoveries result in economic benefits, and quantification of the impacts of research on national security, the environment, health, education, public welfare, and decision making.

Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in Research provides the key observations and suggestions made by the speakers at the workshop and during the discussions that followed the formal presentations.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!