Cohen L R, Noll R G
Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine 92717, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Nov 12;93(23):12678-85. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.23.12678.
The end of the Cold War has called into question the activities of the national laboratories and, more generally, the level of support now given to federal intramural research in the United States. This paper seeks to analyze the potential role of the laboratories, with particular attention to the possibility, on the one hand, of integrating private technology development into the laboratory's menu of activities and, on the other hand, of outsourcing traditional mission activities. We review the economic efficiency arguments for intramural research and the political conditions that are likely to constrain the activities of the laboratories, and analyze the early history of programs intended to promote new technology via cooperative agreements between the laboratories and private industry. Our analysis suggests that the laboratories are likely to shrink considerably in size, and that the federal government faces a significant problem in deciding how to organize a downsizing of the federal research establishment.
冷战的结束使国家实验室的活动受到质疑，更广泛地说，也使美国目前给予联邦政府内部研究的支持水平受到质疑。本文旨在分析这些实验室的潜在作用，特别关注一方面将私营技术开发纳入实验室活动范围的可能性，另一方面将传统任务活动外包的可能性。我们回顾了支持政府内部研究的经济效率论据以及可能限制实验室活动的政治条件，并分析了旨在通过实验室与私营企业之间的合作协议促进新技术发展的项目的早期历史。我们的分析表明，这些实验室的规模可能会大幅缩减，而且联邦政府在决定如何组织联邦研究机构的缩减规模方面面临重大问题。
