Chinese high-speed rail firm CRRC is less innovative than European and Japanese firms, but mercantilist policies help it dominate in China and expand globally. This starves superior firms of revenue, reduces their R&D, and slows the pace of global innovation.

Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation

Some policymakers oppose the legislation, seeing it as merely corporate handouts to an already-profitable industry. But it isn’t about corporate welfare; it’s about the welfare of U.S. industrial competitiveness, defense capability, and the interests of the millions of American jobs the industry supports.

Why the House Needs to Pass the CHIPS and Science Act Today

Fact of the Week: US R&D Is Estimated To Have Increased to $792 Billion in 2021

Federal funding of private R&D comes in two forms: grants, in which the government has very little interaction with the research decisions made, and cooperative agreements, in which the government has significant control over research decisions and much more detailed project monitoring. Whether this higher level of government involvement hinders researchers by increasing bureaucracy or ensures that funding is not misallocated is hotly contested, but a paper released in June gives reason to believe that cooperative agreements are used well.

Fact of the Week: Federal R&D Contracts That Operate as Cooperative Agreements are More Likely to Result in Patents

University scientific researchers from many Asian nations are attracting substantially more industry funding per researcher than their American counterparts claims a new report released last week.

Scientific Researchers at Asian Universities Attracting More Industry Funding than American Counterparts

R&D labs are up to six times more likely to develop a patent through collaboration if they are clustered near other labs than if they are located by themselves, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: R&D Labs are up to Six Times More Likely to Develop a Patent Through Collaboration if They are Clustered Near Other Labs Than if They are Located by Themselves

Although Congress made permanent the research and development tax credit in 2015, the federal government and states still can do more—a 10 percent increase in R&D tax credit generosity permanently increases labor productivity by 0.4 percent per year, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Increasing R&D Tax Credit by 10 Percent Could Boost Labor Productivity Growth by 0.4 Percent Per Year

A recent study highlights the critical role the U.S. government played in financing and developing patented technologies coming out of regional technology clusters.

Fact of the Week: R&D Spending During WWII Spurred a Sustained Wave of Innovation That Lasted Through the 1970s

Join ITIF and OECD to explore policy questions that arose in the context of the OECD Review of Innovation Policy: Germany, but which have relevance to both the United States and Germany.

The Future of Manufacturing and Innovation in Germany and the United States

Continued leadership in high-performance computing (HPC) as it enters the exascale era remains a key pillar of U.S. industrial competitiveness, economic power, and national security readiness. Policymakers need to sustain investments in HPC applications, infrastructure, and skills to keep America at the leading edge.

A New Frontier: Sustaining U.S. High-Performance Computing Leadership in an Exascale Era

Rob and Jackie sat down with Joe Allen, who served as a professional staffer on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to former Senator Birch Bayh, to discuss the importance of the Bayh-Dole Act and the future of life sciences innovation.

Podcast: Life Sciences Innovation Through the Bayh-Dole Act, With Joe Allen

Semiconductors represent the foundational industry for the entire global economy. The United States needs to ensure that it fields leading companies across the memory, logic, and analog subsectors, and that it maintains sufficient domestic semiconductor manufacturing to support its economic and national security needs.

Why America Needs Semiconductor Legislation to Bolster Its Economic and National Security

This role retains significant discretion, and when it is performed effectively it supports the development of essential innovations in computers, robotics, the Internet, and other fields.

Fact of the Week: When a Federal Agency Employs an Additional Contract Officer, It Increases the Likelihood That Its Contracted Investments Will Generate New Patents by 2 Percentage Points

The net result of this legislation would be to increase support for research by start-ups without breaking the link between the credit and actual taxes paid. This should significantly bolster the U.S. innovation ecosystem.

ITIF Supports Legislation to Boost the R&D Tax Credit for Start-Ups

That tariffs put a damper on R&D investments is straightforward: Firms absorb some of the increased input costs, reducing profits and thus the funds available to invest. But tariffs also undercut R&D at a much deeper level. By reducing the exposure firms face to foreign markets, tariffs limit the potential gains from innovation, thereby lowering the returns from investing in R&D.

Fact of the Week: R&D Supports Increased Productivity of Turkish Firms By 10 Percent

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Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation

Why the House Needs to Pass the CHIPS and Science Act Today

Fact of the Week: US R&D Is Estimated To Have Increased to $792 Billion in 2021