Individual Preferences, Organization, And Competition In A Model Of R&D Incentive Provision

Understanding the organization of R&D activities requires the simultaneous consideration of scientific workers' talent and tastes, companies' organizational choices, and the characteristics of the relevant industry. The authors develop a model of the provision of incentives to corporate scientists, in an environment where scientists engage in multiple activities when performing research; knowledge is not perfectly appropriable; scientists are responsive to both monetary and non-monetary incentives; and firms compete on the product market. They show that both the degree of knowledge spillovers and of market competition affects the incentives given to scientists, and these effects interact.