Friday, August 21, 2009

BA, Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
BS, Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
MS, Economics, Free University of Berlin
PhD, Management, Sloan School of Management, MIT

What are your primary research interests?
My research examines the impact of institutions on the accumulation of scientific and technical knowledge and the strategic management of science-based firms. Specifically, I focus on three related lines of inquiry:

1. The drivers of “national innovative capacity” – i.e., why are some countries more innovative than others?  [spoiler alert:  culture is <not> the answer!]
2. The geography of innovation – why do some geographic regions (cities, states) have more innovative firms than others?  [spoiler alert:  the answer is somewhat intuitive yet surprisingly elusive for policymakers – many decades of pro-innovation policies and infrastructure really matter!]
3. The economics of science & innovation – some of my more recent projects examine the economics of science; I have one great (yet boring) project examining the impact of “knowledge hub” institutions on the pace of scientific advance and another interesting (but more tentative) project examining the impact of the Bush Administration stem cell policy on Stem Cell research in the U.S. and abroad.

Why is the School of Management a good fit for you?
Boston is the world’s center for research on technology strategy and economics of innovation and SMG offers some of the world’s most outstanding researchers on these topics.

What business problem do you most want your work to help solve?
Those related to business and public policies designed to achieve innovative productivity and to foster advances in science and technology.