Entrepreneurs, star scientists, and biotechnology.

• Author: Zucker, Lynne G.
• Position: Entrepreneurship intentions of bioscientists and biotechnologists

We are studying the interaction of scientific and technological progress - particularly when breakthroughs or discontinuities occur - through in-depth case studies and econometric analysis of the science underlying biotechnology, the resulting formation of a new industry, and the transformation of existing industries.(1) Our results indicate that the very best "star" scientists play central roles in both the development of the science and its successful commercialization. The importance of these individuals, especially the more entrepreneurial among them, derives from the tacit character of new breakthrough discoveries. In this way, knowledge, at least when it is new, is embodied in particular individuals; it cannot diffuse rapidly, as might easily-duplicated recipes.

How these star scientists balance their multiple roles as leading scientists and participants - often principals - in the commercialization of their discoveries is shaped by the institutional and legal framework in which they operate. These frameworks differ most sharply at the country level. We therefore have extended our analysis to Japan, which is the second-largest country in terms of both bioscience and commercial application of biotechnology. To assess how often discoveries in basic science - made by the stars - shape commercial technology and business success, we are currently extending our work with our project team to investigate other "high technologies" including semiconductors and interactive media.

Project Team and Relational Database

In 1988, Zucker and Marilynn B. Brewer began a study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) of elite scientists and the founding of biotech firms, and of the effect of commercial involvement on the productivity of those bioscientists. They defined star scientists for their project as those who by 1990 had recorded more than 40 genetic-sequence discoveries or had authored at least 20 articles reporting such discoveries. GenBank collected discoveries and articles internationally without regard to language or location of publication, so this definition did not favor any particular nationality.(2)

By the time Darby joined the collaboration in 1992, Zucker and Brewer had hand-collected all the genetic-sequence articles by these 327 star scientists, coded the names of all their co-authors (whether another star or a collaborator), located all of these scientists by affiliation on each article, coded data in all U.S. universities, and collected extensive data on all the firms that had entered biotechnology in the United States.

Since 1992, the relational database has been greatly extended to cover articles up to 1994, has added extensive data on Japanese firms and universities, and has added some initial data on European firms and universities.(3) A parallel database is nearly complete for semiconductors and one has been started for interactive media. The quantitative studies based on this data have all been informed by fieldwork and case studies in which more than 100 scientists, executives, and government and university officials have been interviewed across the United States, Japan, Europe, and Australia.

Star Scientists and Commercialization

Until recently, economists and sociologists studying science and technology have been averse to viewing scientists - particularly top scientists - as pursuing private motives, viewing them instead as disinterested contributors to a shared common pool of knowledge. Our results suggest that star scientists often are better viewed as entrepreneurial individuals who value both financial rewards and the pleasure, recognition, and resources that come from being the first to make a significant new discovery. Collaborations expected to lead to higher valued discoveries, for example, are more likely to be limited to authors from a single organization, and increased use of...