Como se dá a inovação dentro do Estado Desenvolvimentista em Rede? Novos dados sobre acordos público-privados em um laboratório do Departamento de Energia dos Estados Unidos.

Matthew R. Keller,Marian Negoita,Fred Block

doi:10.1590/15174522-019004604

Matthew R. Keller, Marian Negoita + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/15174522-019004604

Copy DOI

Abstract

Abstract The value of the Department of Energy (DOE)-owned national laboratories to the U.S. national innovation system has long been a subject of debate. Advocates have drawn attention to the central role of the labs in the development of technologies including advanced batteries, solar energy breakthroughs, imaging technologies, and various IT endeavors, among others. Critics have recurrently suggested that the labs’ innovative capacities have been undermined by a lack of engagement with commercial firms and managerial tactics. Perhaps surprisingly, what has often been missing from the debate is a thorough review of data on the public-private partnerships in which the labs engage with private firms. This paper draws on heretofore non-public data on one type of contractual arrangement - Work-For-Others (WFO) agreements - in which the labs perform contract work for private firms. We review 10 years of WFO data for a single DOE laboratory. Our analysis provides an initial picture of the surprisingly diverse geography and array of firms that employed the labs as contract R&D providers, as well as of key characteristics of these agreements. Although our data capture only a single laboratory’s agreements, the findings reinforce the importance of looking at the complex, overlapping network of programs within the U.S. federal system that support private sector innovation.

Highlights

The value of the Department of Energy (DOE)-owned national laboratories to the U.S national innovation system has long been a subject of debate
Research has increasingly documented how innovative technologies often arise from the combination of multiple specializations, skills, and knowledges that are often fostered by inter-organizational collaborations (Hargadon, 2003; been explored in scholarly work (Block); Keller, 2009; Hage, 2012)
Our aim is to shed light on the inner-workings of the U.S developmental network state by analyzing new data on Work-For-Others (WFO) agreements, a rarely-studied mechanism for public-private collaborations inside the U.S national laboratory system managed by the Department of Energy – an increasingly consequential developmental agency.[1]

Summary

Introduction

What has often been missing from the debate is a thorough review of data on the public-private partnerships in which the labs engage with private firms. This paper draws on heretofore non-public data on one type of contractual arrangement – Work-For-Others (WFO) agreements – in which the labs perform contract work for private firms. Our data capture only a single laboratory’s agreements, the findings reinforce the importance of looking at the complex, overlapping network of programs within the U.S federal system that support private sector innovation. O ver the last generation, technological innovation has become increasingly collaborative in nature, as large firms in an array of industries have de-verticalized their research, development, and production processes (Davis, 2011) and shifted toward “networked” or “open” innovation and production strategies that involve strategic alliances with external parties (Chesbrough, 2006; Powell et al, 2005). In the international and domestic political arenas, the notion that the U.S

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion