Global high tech industries have mostly developed in an environment where national technology and industrial policies have explicitly or implicitly targeted particular industries, in order to advance national economic, development, or security objectives.
Roughly the first third of this class is going to be covering the history, politics, and economic theory underlying policy debates over technology and industrial policies, the second third is going to be applying these frameworks to actual case studies of industrial competition in global high tech industries, and the last third of the class to actual cases of technology and industrial policies.
The LBJ School's Applied Micro for Policy Analysis, or its equivalent, is a prerequisite for this class.
In addition to doing assigned core reading every week, students will be reviewing and presenting additional literature in class on a weekly basis. Students will also be responsible for designing and presenting a research project in class at the end of the semester, as an integral part of the class. The write‐up of the project will be handed in as a term paper. Grades will be determined by the following weights for class work: In class literature summaries‐ 25%; preliminary project presentation‐ 15%; final project presentation‐ 25%; term paper‐ 35%.
Topics:
1. Introduction, Nature of Policy Challenges, Historical Case Study of Semiconductor & Computer Industry Development
2. National Science, Technology and Industrial Policies in Historical Perspective
3. Theoretical and Empirical Frameworks for Adoption and Diffusion of New Technology
4. Economic Theories of R&D and Innovation
5. Role of Defense and National Security in High Tech Industries
6. IP and Patents in High Tech Competition
7. Standard Setting and High Tech Competition
8. Preliminary Project Presentations
9. Broadband Policies and IT Diffusion
10. Antitrust Policy in Global High Tech Industries
11. Globalization of Pharmaceutical Innovation
12. The Economics of Energy Use and Climate Change
13. Global Competition in Aerospace
14. Innovation and Competition in Semiconductors