SING A new Working Group on
SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND GROWTH

Science, Innovation and Growth are now common terms in both the media and in public policy debates. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of science, innovation and growth, and the relationships among them, is still elusive, despite the advances that have been made in the recent past.
To advance our understanding, both theoretical and applied research is needed that spans different fields in economics: from the microeconomic dimension of innovation (the economics of ideas; firms’ innovation and their dynamics; competition and innovation, etc.) to its macroeconomic and international dimensions of aggregate growth, trade, development, and the international diffusion of technologies. Many perspectives must be taken into account in an attempt to arrive at an consistent view of science, innovation and growth: historical: legal, financial, labour markets, higher education systems, political economy, and the science and innovation policy perspective; to name a few.

To enhance our understanding of these issues through rigorous theoretical and empirical research, CEPR has taken the initiative in launching a new ‘working group’ on Science, Innovation and Growth (SING).
The aim is to create – with a minimum of formality – a structure which is lightweight and flexible, and which will last as long as it is useful. SING’s role will be to:

• provide an umbrella for activities in science, innovation and growth, involving mainly (but not exclusively) CEPR researchers,
• raise the profile of research in this area,
• promote the use of scientifically sound, objective arguments in policy debates on science, innovation and growth,
• prepare proposals and raise funds for projects where appropriate.

CEPR will provide coordination (calls for conferences, web page, notification of news in the area).
The SING Wiki will also be a platform for posting standardized datasets and methodologies used by SING researchers. This wiki is meant to facilitate the communication of research results in this field. Researchers are invited to sign up to indicate their interest in the research topics of SING. Interested researchers may respond to this message or send an email to sing@cepr.org.
Those registering their interest will be informed of ongoing activities (working papers, conferences, calls, etc. in these areas). If you have research activities already underway in one of these areas, we encourage you to send us information on these activities, which we will make available on the SING website.

What follows are examples of topics and research areas that fit into SING. This is not an exclusive list, but only intended as a starting point:

• Science, Technology and Innovation as Sources of Growth
• Resource Allocation in Scientific Institutions and Research Productivity
• Innovation and Economic Development
• Higher Education and Other ‘Institutions for Innovation’
• Industry-Science Linkages
• Innovative Firms (incumbents, start-ups, networks)
• Markets for Knowledge and Technologies
• Intellectual Property (IP) and IP Policies
• Innovation, Competition and Market Structure
• Labour Markets and Innovation
• Financing Innovation – The Role of Internal and External Capital Markets
• Policies for Innovation and Growth

SING is coordinated by an informal Steering Committee

Visit the SING wiki