Irwin D A, Klenow P J
Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Nov 12;93(23):12739-42. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.23.12739.
In previous research, we have found a steep learning curve in the production of semiconductors. We estimated that most production knowledge remains internal to the firm, but that a significant fraction "spills over" to other firms. The existence of such spillovers may justify government actions to stimulate research on semiconductor manufacturing technology. The fact that not all production knowledge spills over, meanwhile, creates opportunities for firms to form joint ventures and slide down their learning curves more efficiently. With these considerations in mind, in 1987 14 leading U.S. semiconductor producers, with the assistance of the U.S. government in the form of $100 million in annual subsidies, formed a research and development (R&D) consortium called Sematech. In previous research, we estimated that Sematech has induced its member firms to lower their R&D spending. This may reflect more sharing and less duplication of research, i.e., more research being done with each R&D dollar. If this is the case, then Sematech members may wish to replace any funding withdrawn by the U.S. government. This in turn would imply that the U.S. government's contributions to Sematech do not induce more semiconductor research than would otherwise occur.
在先前的研究中，我们发现半导体生产存在陡峭的学习曲线。我们估计，大多数生产知识仍保留在公司内部，但有相当一部分会“外溢”到其他公司。这种外溢的存在可能成为政府采取行动刺激半导体制造技术研究的理由。与此同时，并非所有生产知识都会外溢这一事实，为公司创造了组建合资企业并更高效地沿其学习曲线下滑的机会。考虑到这些因素，1987年，14家美国领先的半导体生产商在美国政府以每年1亿美元补贴的形式协助下，成立了一个名为半导体制造技术战略联盟（Sematech）的研发财团。在先前的研究中，我们估计半导体制造技术战略联盟已促使其成员公司降低研发支出。这可能反映出研究更多地得到了共享，重复减少，也就是说，每一美元研发资金能开展更多的研究。如果是这样，那么半导体制造技术战略联盟的成员可能希望替换美国政府撤回的任何资金。这反过来意味着，美国政府对半导体制造技术战略联盟的贡献并不会比原本会发生的情况引发更多的半导体研究。
