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Funding Breakthrough Research: Promises and Challenges of the “ARPA Model”

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Azoulay
  • Erica Fuchs
  • Anna Goldstein
  • Michael Kearney

Abstract

From its 1958 origin in defense, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) model for research funding has, in the last two decades, spread to other parts of the US federal government with the goal of developing radically new technologies. In this paper, we propose that the key elements of the ARPA model for research funding are: organizational flexibility on an administrative level, and significant authority given to program directors to design programs, select projects and actively manage projects. We identify the ARPA model’s domain as mission-oriented research on nascent S-curves within an inefficient innovation system. Finally, we describe some of the challenges to implementing the ARPA model, and we comment on the role of ARPA in the landscape of research funding approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Azoulay & Erica Fuchs & Anna Goldstein & Michael Kearney, 2018. "Funding Breakthrough Research: Promises and Challenges of the “ARPA Model”," NBER Working Papers 24674, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24674
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    Cited by:

    1. Naudé, Wim & Dimitri, Nicola, 2021. "Public Procurement and Innovation for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence," IZA Discussion Papers 14021, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Martin Beraja & David Y Yang & Noam Yuchtman, 2023. "Data-intensive Innovation and the State: Evidence from AI Firms in China," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(4), pages 1701-1723.
    3. Dominique Foray & Martin Eichler & Michael Keller, 2021. "Smart specialization strategies—insights gained from a unique European policy experiment on innovation and industrial policy design," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 83-103, April.
    4. Yang, Alex J., 2024. "Unveiling the impact and dual innovation of funded research," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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