Richard Nelson
Affiliation
- Faculty Fellow, Columbia Business School
School of International and Public Affairs
Earth Institute at Columbia University
Research
Richard Nelson is George Blumenthal Professor of International and Public Affairs. Nelson is an economist by training, and before coming to Columbia was Professor of Economics at Yale University; he also has served as staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisors, and at the RAND Corporation. From the beginnings of his career one of his central research interests has been in understanding differences in the pattern of economic growth over time and across countries, and how these differences have been molded by and mold economic and political institutions. Another principal interest has been the complex intertwining of government, for-profit institutions, and not-for-profit institutions, that one sees in many important sectors of modern economies. His work has been both empirical and theoretical. Perhaps his best known book is An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, co-authored with Sidney Winter. Of his more recent work, the study he directed, National Innovative Systems: A Comparative Analysis, probably has had the broadest influence.
Selected Work
- Technology, Institutions, and Economic Growth Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005.
- Limits of Market Organization Ed. Richard Nelson. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005.
- "Evolutionary Theorizing in Economics" Forthcoming in The Proceedings of the British Academy
- "Evolutionary Economic Theory" With Sidney Winter, forthcoming in Journal of Economic Perspectives
- "On the Nature and Evolution of Human Know-How" With Katherine Nelson, forthcoming in Research Policy
- "How Do University Inventions Get Into Practice?" With Jeannette Colyvas, Michael Crow, Annetine Gelijns, Roberto Mazzoleni, Nathan Rosenberg, and Bhaven Sampat, in Management Science, Jan 2002
- "The Emergence and Standardization of University Technology Transfer Offices: A Case Study of Institutional Change" With Bhaven Sampat, forthcoming in Advances in Strategic Management
- "The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R and D" With Wesley Cohen and John Walsh, in Management Science, Jan. 2002
- "The Growth of Patenting and Licensing by U.S. Universities: An Assessment of the Effect of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980" With David Mowery, Bhaven Sampat, and Arvids Ziedonis, in Research Policy, 2001
- "Making Sense of Institutions as a Factor Shaping Economic Performance" With Bhaven Sampat, in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2001
- "Observations on the Post Bayh-Dole Rise of Patenting at American Universities" In Journal of Technology Transfer, 2001
See Also
- Research grant: The Changing Role of Research Universities in the U.S. National Innovation System
- Featured publications by Richard Nelson
- Working paper: On the Uneven Evolution of Human Know-How
