Technological innovation has been one of the most important contributors to the growth in employment and incomes in the U.S. economy. Yet the institutional and organizational factors that lead to differences among nations and firms with respect to innovative performance are not well understood. In particular, it has seemed apparent to the authors that the intellectual framework long employed by economists for the analysis of these issues is distinctly inadequate. Above all, it is incomplete. Instead of focusing exclusively, as is the present practice of economic theory, on the conditions under which the economic returns to research may be appropriated, we believe that much more attention needs to be devoted to the conditions influencing the utilization of the results of the scientific and technological research that lead to innovation.

For the past decade, we have been engaged, individually and jointly, in research on the organization of the process of innovation that underpins economic growth in the modern era. Our work has been empirical, historical, and comparative in its approach and concerns; it has drawn on a number of disciplines, including the history of science, policy analysis, and economic history. This volume presents the results of that work. We hope that it will be received as a constructive attempt to expand the range of relevant variables in the economic analysis of the innovation process.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the support, both intellectual and financial, that we have received in the course of this work.