Pitt Lecture to Focus on Diffusion of Knowledge for Economic Growth

PITTSBURGH—The importance of institutions generating and diffusing economically valuable knowledge is the topic of the Pitt/Carnegie Mellon University Applied Microeconomics Lecture at 3:30 p.m. April 8 in Room 4716, Posvar Hall, 230 S. Bouquet St., Oakland. It is free and open to the public; for more information, call 412-648-1765.

The lecture, by Boston University (BU) economist Jeffrey Furman, is titled "Climbing Atop the Shoulders of Giants: The Impact of Institutions on Cumulative Research." Furman's work examines the role of a particular type of institution—known as "biological resource centers" (BRC) or culture collections—in diffusing knowledge in the life sciences.

For example, the American Type Culture Collection in Manassas, Va., is a BRC organization that collects, stores, and circulates microorganisms for use by cell biologists and other life science researchers. Furman's research reveals that not only do BRCs preserve materials central to research in biology, they also support the acceleration of research associated with those materials; thus, they serve an important role in diffusing existing knowledge and generating new knowledge in the life sciences.

"Our results suggest that BRCs may be worthy of increased attention from policymakers eager to improve the institutions that underlie national and regional scientific advantage," says Furman. "BRCs are fundamental institutions that support scientific progress but are largely invisible to policymakers. Providing incentives to develop such institutions may have benefits that greatly outweigh the costs to the public."

In addition to his position as assistant professor of strategy and policy at the BU School of Management, Furman is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also has been a research and teaching assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Furman has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including both the Broderick Award for Excellence in Research and the Beckwith Award for Excellence in Teaching at the BU School of Management.

The Pitt/Carnegie Mellon University Applied Microeconomics Lecture is sponsored by the Center for Industry Studies in Pitt's Department of Economics.

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