Page 554 - Economics

CONFIRMING PAGES

PART SIX
486
Microeconomics of Product Markets
10. Do you think the overall level of R&D would increase or de- 12. Evaluate: “Society does not need laws outlawing monopoli-
crease over the next 20 to 30 years if the lengths of new pat- zation and monopoly. Inevitably, monopoly causes its own
ents were extended from 20 years to, say, “forever”? What if self-destruction, since its high profit is the lure for other
the duration were reduced from 20 years to, say, 3 years? firms or entrepreneurs to develop substitute products.”
11. Make a case that neither pure competition nor pure 13. LAST WORD Identify a specific example of each of the fol-
monopoly is conducive to a great deal of R&D spending lowing in this chapter’s Last Word: (a) entrepreneurship,
and innovation. Why might oligopoly be more favorable to (b) invention, (c) innovation, and (d) diffusion.
R&D spending and innovation than either pure competition
or pure monopoly? What is the inverse-U theory, and how
does it relate to your answers to these questions?

Web-Based Questions

1. THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION R&D STATIS- support of R&D as a percentage of GDP. What are
TICS—WHAT’S HAPPENING? Go to the Division of Sci- the technological implications of these figures for the
ence Resource Statistics Web site, www.nsf.gov/statisties , United States?
to find the listing for Research & Development. Select In- 2. NASA—ARE THERE COMMERCIAL SPIN-OFFS? Visit
dustry and then the most recent InfoBrief on National the Web site of NASA’s Technology Transfer Office, at
Patterns of R&D Resources. Use the historical charts and www.sti.nasa.gov/tto , to identify significant commercial
tables to determine whether the following R&D numbers benefits from secondary use of NASA technology. Search
increased, remained constant, or decreased over the last the database to find and describe five such spin-offs. How
5 years listed: ( a ) Total U.S. R&D expenditures in constant does the NASA Commercial Technology Network
dollars, ( b ) Federal support for R&D in constant dollars, ( nctn.hq.nasa.gov/ ) move technology from the lab to the
( c ) R&D as a percentage of U.S. GDP, and ( d ) Federal marketplace?

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