Daniel Gross CV

Journal Article Research Policy · January 1, 2025 We introduce new historical administrative data identifying U.S. government-funded patents since the early twentieth century. In addition to the funding agency, the data report whether the government has title to the patent (“title” patents) or funded a pa ... Full text Cite

The World War II crisis innovation model: What was it, and where does it apply?

Journal Article Research Policy · November 1, 2023 World War II was one of the most acute emergencies in U.S. history, and the first where mobilizing science and technology was a major part of the government response. The U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) led a far-ranging research ... Full text Cite

The Hidden Costs of Securing Innovation: The Manifold Impacts of Compulsory Invention Secrecy

Journal Article Management Science · April 1, 2023 One of the most commanding powers of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is to compel inventions into secrecy, withholding patent rights and prohibiting disclosure, to prevent technology from leaking to foreign competitors. This paper studies the ... Full text Open Access Cite

The Composition and Dynamics of Technology-Enabled Entrepreneurship

Journal Article Columbia Business School Research Paper · March 9, 2023 Cite

America, Jump-Started: World War II R&D and the Takeoff of the US Innovation System^†

Journal Article American Economic Review · January 1, 2023 During World War II, the US government’s Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) supported one of the largest public investments in applied R&D in US history. Using data on all OSRD-funded invention, we show this shock had a formative impact o ... Full text Cite

Crisis Innovation Policy from World War II to COVID-19

Journal Article · June 2021 Full text Open Access Cite

The Economics of Crisis Innovation Policy: A Historical Perspective

Conference AEA Papers and Proceedings · May 1, 2021 Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers, researchers, and journalists have made comparisons to World War II. In 1940, a group of top US science administrators organized a major coordinated research effort to support the Allied wa ... Full text Open Access Cite

Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century

Journal Article Management Science · December 2020 Collusion is widely condemned for its negative effects on consumer welfare and market efficiency. In this paper, I show that collusion may also in some cases facilitate the creation of unexpected new sources of value. I bring this possibility into ... Full text Open Access Cite

Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

Journal Article The Review of Economics and Statistics · June 2020 Though fundamental to innovation and essential to many industries and occupations, individual creativity has received limited attention as an economic behavior and has historically proven difficult to study. This paper studies the incentive effect ... Full text Open Access Cite

Scale versus scope in the diffusion of new technology: evidence from the farm tractor

Journal Article The RAND Journal of Economics · June 2018 AbstractAlthough tractors are now used in nearly every agricultural field operation and in the production of nearly all crops, they first developed with much more limited application. Early diffusion was accordingly rapid i ... Full text Open Access Cite

Performance feedback in competitive product development

Journal Article The RAND Journal of Economics · May 2017 Performance feedback is ubiquitous in competitive settings where new products are developed. This article introduces a fundamental tension between incentives and improvement in the provision of feedback. Using a sample of 4294 commercial logo desig ... Full text Open Access Cite