STAR SCIENTISTS AND INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION - PATTERNS OF INVENTION AND INNOVATION IN THE FORMATION OF THE BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

The most productive (''star'') bioscientists had intellectual human ca pital of extraordinary scientific and pecuniary value for some 10-15 y ears after Cohen and Boyer's 1973 founding discovery for biotechnology [Cohen, S., Chang, A., Boyer, H. & Helling, R. (1973) Proc. Natl. Aca d. Sci. USA 70, 3240-3244]. This extraordinary value was due to the un ion of still scarce knowledge of the new research techniques and geniu s and vision to apply them in novel, valuable ways, As in other scienc es, star bioscientists were very protective of their techniques, ideas , and discoveries in the early years of the revolution, tending to col laborate more within their own institution, which slowed diffusion to other scientists, Close, bench-level working ties between stars and fi rm scientists were needed to accomplish commercialization of the break throughs, Where and when star scientists were actively producing publi cations is a key predictor of where and when commercial firms began to use biotechnology, The extent of collaboration by a firm's scientists with stars is a powerful predictor of its success: for an average fir m, 5 articles coauthored by an academic star and the firm's scientists result in about 5 more products in development, 3.5 more products on the market, and 860 more employees, Articles by stars collaborating wi th or employed by firms have significantly higher rates of citation th an other articles by the same or other stars, The U.S. scientific and economic infrastructure has been particularly effective in fostering a nd commercializing the bioscientific revolution, These results let us see the process by which scientific breakthroughs become economic grow th and consider implications for policy.