Jaffe-Feldman-Varga: the search for knowledge spillovers

Abstract

The switch from old growth theory to endogenous technical change in the 1990s required rethinking the role of technical change, knowledge spillovers and economic growth. Using a knowledge production function, Adam Jaffe was the firsts to identify the extent to which university research spills over into generating commercial activity. Maryann Feldman expanded the knowledge production function to innovative activities and incorporated aspects of regional knowledge infrastructure. Attila Varga extended the Jaffe-Feldman approach by focusing on a more precise measure of local geographic spillovers at the city level. Varga approached the issue of knowledge spillovers from an explicit spatial econometric perspective. The Jaffe-Feldman-Varga approach provided an understanding of the role of knowledge spillovers in technological change.