Dear Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Members -
After more than two decades of outstanding service as the founding
director of the NBER Innovation Policy working group, Scott Stern
decided this spring that it was time for a leadership transition.
Please join me in thanking Scott for his remarkable contributions. He
has played a key role in setting the intellectual direction of the group
and in establishing its meetings as one of the pre-eminent settings for
the discussion of innovation economics. Scott has led from the front,
carrying out some of the most exciting and impactful work in this area
while convening dozens of meetings, serving as a co-editor along with
Josh Lerner for the twenty-volume /Innovation Policy and the Economy/
series, and co-editing four NBER books.
I am delighted to announce that Ben Jones and Heidi Williams have
agreed to serve as the new co-directors of the working group. Both are
wide-ranging scholars with core interests in the economics of
innovation. Ben's research emphasizes the role of innovation and
scientific progress in contributing to economic growth. An NBER
affiliate since 2005, he is the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor
in Entrepreneurship, and Professor of Strategy, at Northwestern
University's Kellogg School of Management. Heidi's research examines
the causes and consequences of technological change, with a particular
emphasis on innovation in the health care sector. She is the Charles R.
Schwab Professor of Economics at Stanford and a Senior Fellow at the
Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research. An NBER affiliate since
2010, she is also the co-director of the NBER Health Care Program. In
her new dual capacity, Heidi will be well-positioned to advance research
that cuts across health and innovation economics.
I look forward to working with Ben and Heidi to build on the
Innovation Policy working group's past successes and to address new and
exciting opportunities in the future. All best wishes.
Jim Poterba
Received on Wed Jun 23 2021 - 16:55:00 EDT
