ECONOMICS
4910/8916
SPECIAL
TOPICS IN ECONOMICS:
SEMINAR ON THE
ECONOMICS OF SCIENCE
Spring
1994
last
updated: August 30, 1994
Arthur Diamond
Office: CBA 512E
Office phone: 554-3657
Office Hours:
Tues. 11:15am-12:15 and 4:45-5:45pm; Thurs. 11:15am-12:15; and by
appointment.
LAN and CWIS userid: adiamond
Internet address: adiamond@unomaha.edu
Seminar
Description:
The
three credit-hour seminar meets on Tuesdays from 6-8:40 pm. The course will be conducted as a seminar
with ample student participation, including a research paper. Among the questions to be considered will
be: How does scientific research
influence technology and economic growth?
Can the government, as part of an "industrial policy" pick
promising science projects and technologies of the future? How should scientists be rewarded to
increase the speed of scientific progress?
Approximately
the first nine weeks of the seminar will focus on instructor-led discussion of
important topics in the economics of science.
Readings for this section of the course will consist mainly of
important, usually recent, academic papers on the topics under discussion.
Part
of one session (to be held in the library) will focus on the characteristics of
good writing style in economics and on effective research techniques. Under the latter heading we will learn how
to perform literature searches using a powerful, but initially confusing,
research tool: the Social Science
Citation Index.
During
the last five weeks, or so, of the seminar, instructor-led discussions will be
significantly supplemented by student presentations on topics related to their
term papers.
Prerequisite:
ECON
2020 or permission of the instructor.
Resource
Materials:
The
core reading assignment for the course will be an extended review essay by the
instructor, entitled "The Economics of Science." Additional journal articles and chapters
from monographs will be assigned on a weekly basis related to the topics that
are to be discussed. These readings
will be made available at the reserve desk of the library.
491 Course
Requirements:
Course
grades will depend on the grades received on a midterm (30%), a final exam
(40%), and a medium-length paper (30%) on a topic drawn from those covered on
the reading list. The midterm will
consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions. The short paper should be 10-15 pages of
double-spaced, typewritten text (not including any footnotes and
references).
Undergraduates
are not required to give presentations, but may earn "extra credit"
points by doing so. The number of
points earned will depend on the quality of the presentation, but will have a
maximum value of 10% of the total points otherwise possible for the
course.
891 Course
Requirements:
Course
grades will depend on the grades received on a midterm (30%), a class
presentation (10%), an extended research paper (40%) on a thesis related to one
of the topics covered on the reading list, and a final exam (20%).
In
the second half of the course, each graduate student will be expected to give a
summary presentation, and then lead discussion on one of the topics listed in
the annotated reading list. The paper
should be 20-25 pages of double-spaced, typewritten text (not including any
footnotes and references).
Cheating:
Exams
will be attentively monitored. The
result of academic dishonesty will be a grade of F for the seminar and a
recommendation for expulsion from the university.
Presentations:
The
presenter will assign readings to fellow students two weeks prior to the
seminar presentation. The presenter
should either (1) provide two photocopies to me to place on reserve or (2)
provide sufficient photocopies for each student to have her own copy. Photocopies should have full bibliographic
information on the top of the first page of each separate source. Full bibliographic information means: author(s), article or book title, volume
number (where applicable), journal title (where applicable), publication date
and pages. A presenter will be expected
to give a summary presentation, and then lead discussion on one of the topics
listed in the annotated reading list.
The presentation should be on the same topic as the research paper, but
the presentation should be more self-consciously designed so that all
reasonable positions on the topic are given a credible defense.
OUTLINE OF COURSE:
1. 1/11/94 Description
of course.
2. 1/18/94 Introduction
to the Economics of Science. Also: CWIS, Internet, Uncover and the use of
computers in research.
Dasgupta,
Partha and Paul A. David. "Toward
a New Economics of Science."
Center for Economic Policy Research Publication No. 320, October 1992.
3. 1/25/94 Utility-maximizing
accounts of the behavior of scientists.
Hull,
David L. "Altruism in
Science: A Sociobiological Model of
Cooperative Behaviour among Scientists."
Animal Behaviour 26 (1978):
685-697.
Diamond,
Arthur M., Jr. "Science as a
Rational Enterprise." Theory
and Decision 24 (1988): 147-167.
4. 2/1/94 Research
tools and clear writing in the economics of science. Bibliographic search using Genisys and Uncover. Grammatik and writing style. Meet in library (in Room 304);
Library resources: journals; SSCI; ABI
on CD-ROM; journals. Writing style in
economics; discuss McCloskey. A couple
of classics on "macro" issues of the economics of science.
McCloskey,
Donald. "Economical
Writing." Economic Inquiry
23 (April 1985): 187-222.
Nelson,
Richard R. "The Simple Economics
of Basic Scientific Research." Journal
of Political Economy 67
(1959): 297-306.
Arrow,
K.J. "Economic Welfare and the
Allocation of Resources for Inventions."
In Richard R. Nelson, ed., (National Bureau of Economic Research), The
Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity:
Economic and Social Factors.
Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1962, pp. ?-?.
5. 2/8/94 If
the reward structure of science is efficient, then why is the variation in
research productivity of scientists greater than the variation of salaries?
Frank,
Robert H. "Are Workers Paid Their
Marginal Products?" The
American Economic Review 74, no. 4 (September 1984): 549-571.
Freeman,
Smith. "Wage Trends as Performance
Displays Productive Potential: A Model
and Application to Academic Early Retirement." Bell Journal of Economics 8 (Fall 1977): 419-443.
6. 2/15/94 Rent-seeking
in academia
Tullock,
Gordon. "The Welfare Costs of
Tariffs, Monopolies, and Theft." Western
Economic Journal 5 (June 1967):
224-232 (also reprinted In James M. Buchanan, Robert D. Tollison, and
Gordon Tullock, eds., Toward a Theory of the Rent-Seeking Society. College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press, 1980, pp.
39-50.)
McKenzie,
Richard B. "The Economic Basis of
Departmental Discord in Academe." Social
Science Quarterly 59, no. 4 (March 1979): 653-664.
Brennan,
H. Geoffrey and Robert D. Tollison.
"Rent Seeking in Academia."
In James M. Buchanan, Robert D. Tollison, and Gordon Tullock, eds., Toward
a Theory of the Rent-Seeking Society.
College Station, TX: Texas A
& M University Press, 1980, pp. 345-356.
7. 2/22/94 Class
cancelled by Chancellor Weber due to weather.
8. 3/1/94 Does
science promote technological innovation?
(part 1)
Mowery,
David C. and Nathan Rosenberg. Technology
and the Pursuit of Economic Growth.
NY: Cambridge University Press,
1989.
Mansfield,
Edwin. The Economics of
Technological Change. N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 1968.
9. 3/8/94 Does
science promote technological innovation?
(part 2)
Adams,
James D. "Fundamental Stocks of
Knowledge and Productivity Growth."
Journal of Political Economy 98, no. 4 (August 1990): 673-702.
Griliches,
Zvi. "Productivity, R&D, and
Basic Research at the Firm Level in the 1970's." The American Economic Review 76, no. 1 (March 1986): 141-154.
Jaffe,
Adam B. "Real Effects of Academic
Research." The American
Economic Review 79, no. 5 (December 1989):
957-969.
10. 3/15/94 Midterm exam.
(Exam will cover assignments through 3/8/94.)
11. 3/22/94 Spring Break (no class).
12. 3/29/94 Arthur
Diamond, "The Determinants and Career Consequences for a Scientist of
Choosing a Mistaken Research Project"
13. 4/5/94 Arthur
Diamond, "The Relative Success of Private Foundations and Government in
Funding Important Research"
Robert
Kingsley, "Is Support for Big Science Based on Scientific Merit or
Political Clout?"
14. 4/12/94 David
Brandon, "The Rhetoric of Science"
John
Radicia, "Do Monetary Incentives Influence What Research is Done in
Agriculture?"
15. 4/19/94 Addie
Deeds, "Does Gender Discrimination Exist in Science?"
Cindy
Dassner, "The Relationship of Productivity and Age"
16. 4/26/94 Papers due.
Jeffry
Hebert, "What are Scientists After?"
Cherie
Wittmuss, "Forecasting the Supply and Demand of Scientists"
17. 5/3/94 Final
Exam. (Exam is comprehensive and
may cover anything covered in course.)
GUIDELINES FOR
TERM PAPERS
The
research paper should argue for a particular thesis related to one of the topic
areas and should reflect critical thought instead of a mere summary of the
positions of the published authorities.
(With permission, the student may select a relevant topic that is not
included on the reading list). The
paper should be double-spaced, typewritten (or "word-processed) text with
a font size of either 10 or 12 points.
For undergraduates, the paper should be 10-15 pages in length and for
graduate students, the paper should be 20-25 pages in length (in both cases,
not including any footnotes and references).
Late
papers will be accepted, but will have 5% of the possible paper points deducted
initially and an additional 1% deducted for each day the paper is late beyond
the first day. Late papers may result
in a grade of I (incomplete) for the course on the initial grade report.
The
paper should be written at a consistent level of difficulty. In most cases, the paper should be written
to be understandable by a conscientious undergraduate economics major. That means you should assume that you are
writing for someone who is intelligent, interested, short on time, and does not
have a deep knowledge of science or the higher level technical details of
economics.
The
"core" sections of the paper should sum to approximately 10-15 pages
for undergraduates and 20-25 pages graduate students. A few pages extra will not be penalized if the extra pages are
truly needed (i.e., not "padding").
The
paper should have a title page including the title, your name, the name of the
course, the course number and the date on which the paper is turned in. Following the title page, on a separate page
should be a 100 word abstract. Neither
the title page nor the abstract page counts toward the page limit of the
paper. Pages in the body of the text
(beginning with the Introduction) should be consecutively numbered. The text of the paper should be double-spaced
and should have inch and a half margins on the top, bottom, right and
left. The font size should either be 10
point or 12 point in size. Please do
not put your paper in a special binder that would limit the space for my
comments. Instead, staple or clip it
together.
Endnotes
should be used only if really necessary.
When a source is used in the text, internal references should be given
in the text that consist of a parenthetical mention of the author's last name,
the date of the publication and a specific page number (if appropriate). For each brief parenthetical reference, a
complete bibliographic reference should be provided in the Bibliography (that
is not counted in the page limit). The
ultimate arbiter for reference format is the latest edition of The Chicago
Manual of Style.
Before
you turn in your final draft, be sure to submit it to a spell-checking program
(available with all major word-processing programs).
As you work on the
text of your paper, be sure to periodically backup your latest draft onto a
floppy disk. Also be sure to keep a
clean copy of your paper for your files---the copy you turn in to me will be
marked-up in red ink.
In
your introduction, you should describe your problem and your thesis. This might be a good place to mention the
contents of any broadly relevant articles that you turned up in your UNCOVER,
EconLit and other literature searches.
If there is no relevant material on UNCOVER or EconLit for your topic,
mention the absence of relevant material (and include in the appendix, a list
of the keywords that you used to search under and the articles that
resulted). (That is, it would be very
unusual to have no relevant articles appear, so if you claim that there
are none, the burden of proof is on you.)
Briefly (in a few sentences) summarize what you will be doing in the
rest of the paper.
SOME SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:
a. The paper should have inch and a half
margins on the left hand side, top and bottom.
(Ample margins make it easier for me to jot down comments.)
b. The style for references is flexible,
but should be consistent and should provide enough information for the reader
to track down a reference, if necessary.
(Some people are very picky when it comes to reference format, so you
may make your life easier if you get in the habit of doing it the way these
people like. Perhaps the most widely
used style format in economics is that found in: The Chicago Manual of Style, latest edition, The
University of Chicago Press.)
c. Attempt to write as McCloskey suggests
in "Economical Writing".
d. Do not place your paper in a
plastic cover.
e. Make a carbon or xerox copy of your
paper before turning it in.
f. The paper is due at the beginning of
class on the last day of classes (4/26/94).
SOME POSSIBLE
TERM PAPER TOPICS:
Should government take a greater role
in picking the winners and losers in science and technology (as the supporters
of "industrial policy" suggest)?
(This topic might be more manageable if you focus on one or two
particular cases: e.g., the gov.
support of railroads, Japan's support for high definition TV, Al Gore's
information superhighway.)
[non-required reference: Tyson,
Laura D'Andrea. Who's Bashing
Whom? Trade Conflict in High-Technology
Industries. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, Nov.
1992.]
Is support for "big science"
projects (like the genome project, the supercollider, the Hubble telescope) based
on the scientific merit of the projects (as scientists might suggest) or on the
political clout of the advocates (as a public choice economist might suggest)?
Was the DARPA government agency a
success in funding innovative new technology?
If so, what were the reasons for the success (able people?, luck?,
mission?)
Are there important technology
"spin-offs" from government science projects such as NASA's Apollo
program? Is this an effective way to
advance technolgy, as opposed to investing directly in the area where
technological advance is sought?
If government funding of science is
cut, what does the economics literature say about the extent to which private
funding would fill the gap? (reference
the "crowding out" literature here).
What does the economics literature
have to say about how scientific productivity varies with age?
What does the economics literature say
about whether there is race discrimination in science?
What does the economics literature say
about whether there is gender discrimination in science?
What does the economics literature
have to say on the importance of science in the development of technology?
How successful has the NSF been in
funding important science?
Does the institution of academic
tenure enhance the rate of scientific progress? (i.e., why is there tenure?)
(include, among others, discussion in Alchian, and in Carmichael)
Is science more accurately
characterized as an open meritocracy or as a closed "old-boy
network"?
Is rent-seeking an important
phenomenon in science?
Do scientists have different
motivation from the standard homo economicus (economic man)?
Has the Japanese government been more
successful than the U.S. government at supporting science? (Nobel Prize winners?, applications to
technology?)
How successful has the Japanese agency
MITI been at implementing an industrial policy to focus resources toward
promising technological advance?
Is innovation supply-driven or
demand-driven?
Are there increasing returns to scale
in department size?
Cherfas,
Jeremy. "University Restructuring
Based on a False Premise?" Science
247 (January 19, 1990): 278.
Recent
studies dispute results of 3 earlier studies:
Sir Sam Edwards; Gordon Stone; Ron Oxburgh, 1987 (this was a review of
earth sciences, finding that 5 best geophysics departments in US had staffs
between 25 and 35)
Hicks,
Diana and James Skea. Physics World (prob. sometime in late 1989)
Jennifer
Platt found random relationship between size and productivity
Gallant,
Jonathan A. and John W. Prothero.
"Department Size and Quality." Science 247 (March 30,
1990): 1530-1531.
This
letter refers to the British controversy over size and scale: Science "News & Comment, 247
(Jan. 19, 1990): 278 and an article by
the authors:
Science
175 (1972): 381
In economics
they found a positive correlation between size and quality; in philosophy,
physics and physiology they found no relationship and in bio-chemistry they
found a negative correlation.
They
conclude in the letter (p. 1531) that:
"There is little evidence in these numbers for the notion that
bigger is better."
The following sample bibliography is
intended to illustrate the preferred reference format for several different
kinds of publications.
SAMPLE FORM FOR
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
Ackermann, Robert John.
Data, Instruments and Theory.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1985.
Acs, Zoltan J., David B. Audretsch and Maryann P.
Feldman. "Real Effects of Academic
Research: Comment." The American Economic Review 82, no.
1 (March 1992): 363-367.
Adams, James D.
"Fundamental Stocks of Knowledge and Productivity
Growth." Journal of Political
Economy 98, no. 4 (August 1990):
673-702.
Alchian, Armen A.
"Private Property and the Relative Cost of Tenure." In Economic Forces at Work. Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1977 (essay originally published in 1958).
American Chemical Society. Directory of Graduate Research 1989. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, 1989.
Becker, William E., Jr.
"Maintaining Faculty Vitality through Collective Bargaining." In Clark, Shirley M. and Lewis, Darrell
R., eds. Faculty Vitality and Institutional Productivity: Critical Perspectives for Higher Education. New York:
Columbia University, Teachers College Press, 1985, pp. 198-223.
Davis, Elizabeth.
"Compensation Gains of Faculty Unions and the Unemployment Effect
of Extending Unemployment Insurance Coverage." (PhD Dissertation,
University of Michigan, 1988).
Diamond, Arthur M., Jr.
"Age and the Acceptance of Cliometrics." The Journal of
Economic History 40, no. 4 (December 1980): 838-841.
. "The
Career Consequences of Accepting a Scientific Mistake." working paper, 1992.
Friedman, Milton.
"An Open Letter for Grants."
Newsweek (May 18,
1981): 99.
Garfield, Eugene, (chairman). Science Citation Index.
Philadelphia: Institute for
Scientific Information, Inc., 1961-present.
Lucas, Robert E., Jr.
"Incentives for Ideas."
New York Times (April 13, 1981):
23.
Important Dates:
March
15: Midterm exam.
March
20-27: Spring vacation; no classes.
April
1: Last day until 4:00 p.m. to drop
course with a grade of "W".
April
26: Papers due.
May
3: Final exam 6:00-8:40 pm.