Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

The course aims to develop a critical knowledge of the fundaments of the economics and policy of knowledge production and distribution with particular emphasis on university research. The course will introduce the student to the principal institutions and policies in the area of research and innovation in the G7 countries and other BRIC countries (depending on the interests of the students). Particular attention will be devoted to the comparative analysis.

The course provides detailed knowledge on the development and implementation of science and technology policies. Students will acquire the needed theoretical and empirical knowledge to critically evaluate market failure situations that would justify the development specific policies. The analysis of the rationale behind policy action and the problems associated to the development and implementation of specific policies will help the students to develop a critical knowledge of the difficulties inherent to the development of science and technology policy.

[Class teaching, discussion of specific cases, role playing, student presentation]

Student will be required to work in groups of two/three to prepare the presentation and a term paper of 3000-4000 words.

Written/oral exam

Percentage of final mark:

Class presentation (20%)

Term paper (30%)

Written exam (50% - 20 multiple answer question and 3 open questions). 

The course is structured into four main modules. The first presents a brief introduction to the economics of innovation paying particular attention to the concepts of knowledge and information. It, then, introduces the rationale for public funding of academic research and examine the main OECD indicators. The second module focuses on the analysis of scientific production and the academic labor market paying particular attention to international mobility. The interaction between science and industrial development and in particular university-industry relationships, academic patenting and other channels of knowledge transfer is examined in the third module. The forth module will be selected by the students between a series of alternatives presented by the professor. Given the increasing importance of evidence based policy, one or two classes of the course will be devoted the understanding and use of Science and Technology (S&T) Indicators for economic analysis and policy making.

There will be a "role play" class in which two professors will debate a policy topic "as if" they were presenting their case for a specific policy development in front of a governmental committee. Students will be split into two groups and required to prepare questions for the presenters.  

The course offers the opportunity to follow a series of seminars on the economics of innovation on Thursday from 12:30 to 13:30 at the Collegio Carlo Alberto in Piazza Arbarello 8. Attendance of the seminars is very strongly suggested.

The course will use articles that will be suggested to students before class. The following list of books are useful references

Geuna ed. (2015), Global Mobility of Research Scientists. The Economics of Who Goes Where. Academic Press, 2015

Geuna and F. Rossi (2015), The University and the Economy: Pathways to growth and development, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, [translation with three new chapters of the 2013 book in Italian].

Geuna and F. Rossi (2013), L’università e il sistema economico. Conoscenze, progresso tecnologico e crescita, Bologna: Mulino, 2013.

Fagerberg, J. Mowery D.C. e R Nelson (eds.) (2004) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation

Bronwyn H. Hall, ‎Nathan Rosenberg (eds.) (2010) Handbook of the economics of innovation. MIT Press.

The course will be on held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 16 to 18 in Room H6. It will be taped and available for students.

Students must register to to course