Public supported R&D: knowledge spillovers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Abstract The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is the second largest Institute within the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In this article, we quantify knowledge spillovers from NIAID-funded research conducted by small firms. The spillover metric considered is scientific publications, and we find that the annual rate of publications has been increasing since the mid-1950s. Using a sampling population of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) firms funded through NIAID, we calculate an annual growth rate of 28.5 per cent. We also find that a key covariate with annual scientific publication counts is the number of employees within the funded firm. From a policy perspective, institutionalizing incentives for NIAID SBIR-funded firms to publish will enhance the rate of scientific knowledge flowing into society.