Publications

Crisis Innovation and the U.S. Innovation System

For a summary of my work on this theme, please see this NBER Reporter article.

13. Indirect Cost Recovery in U.S. Innovation Policy: History, Evidence, and Avenues for Reform

(with Pierre Azoulay and Bhaven Sampat)

NBER Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, 5, 133-182. 2026.

Media: New York Times, STAT News, Project Syndicate, Good Science Project, ITIF, NBER Reporter, NBER Digest, Fuqua Insights Podcast, StateCraft

12. The Government Patent Register: A New Resource for Measuring U.S. Government-Funded Patenting

(with Bhaven Sampat)

Research Policy, 54(1), 105142. 2025.

11. America, Jump-started: World War II R&D and the Takeoff of the U.S. Innovation System

(with Bhaven Sampat)

American Economic Review, 113(12), 3323-3356. 2023.

Media: New York Times, Axios, Brookings Institution (1, 2), American Enterprise Institute, Mises Institute, Project Syndicate, AEA Research Highlights, NBER Digest

10. The World War II Crisis Innovation Model: What Was It, and Where Does It Apply?

(with Bhaven Sampat)

Research Policy, 52(9), 104845. 2023.

Media: AAAS, American Enterprise Institute, New Things Under the Sun, LSE Impact Blog

9. The Hidden Costs of Securing Innovation: The Manifold Impacts of Compulsory Invention Secrecy

Management Science, 69(4), 2318-2338. 2023.

Media: NBER Digest, HBS Working Knowledge, VoxEU, New Things Under the Sun

8. Crisis Innovation Policy from World War II to COVID-19

(with Bhaven Sampat)

NBER Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, 1, 135-181. 2022.

Media: The Atlantic, NPR, Fuqua Insights

7. The Economics of Crisis Innovation Policy: A Historical Perspective

(with Bhaven Sampat)

AEA Papers & Proceedings, 111, 346-350. 2021.

Media: American Enterprise Institute

Automation, Technology, and the Future of Work

6. Answering the Call of Automation: How the Labor Market Adjusted to the Mechanization of Telephone Operation

(with James Feigenbaum)

Quarterly Journal of Economics, 139(3), 1879-1939. 2024.

Media: Vox, NPR Marketplace, NPR Planet Money podcast, Freakonomics podcast, Tech Republic, Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute (1, 2, 3, 4), Cato Institute, Washington Center for Equitable Growth, UN International Labour Organization, World Economic Forum, Working Nation, Broadstreet, Visible Hand podcast, The Argument, Washington Post

5. Organizational and Economic Obstacles to Automation: A Cautionary Tale from AT&T in the Twentieth Century

(with James Feigenbaum)

Management Science, 70(12), 8520-8540. 2024.

Media: The Economist, American Enterprise Institute, 80,000 Hours

4. Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century

Management Science, 66(12), 5683-5700. 2020.

Media: Cato Institute

3. Scale versus Scope in the Diffusion of New Technology: Evidence from the Farm Tractor

RAND Journal of Economics, 49(2), 427-452. 2018.

Media: The Economist, American Enterprise Institute (1, 2)

Managing Creative Workers

2. Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(3), 583-599. 2020.

Media: New York Times, Harvard Business Review (Vol. 98, Issue 3, pp. 24-26), Harvard Business Review France, Inc.com, LiveMint, FinWeek, Freelancer, VoxEU, HBS Working Knowledge, Freakonomics podcast

1. Performance Feedback in Competitive Product Development

RAND Journal of Economics, 48(2), 438-466. 2017.