Christopher Freeman
| Christopher Freeman | |
|---|---|
| Institution | Science Policy Research Unit |
| Field | Science Policy and Innovation |
| School or tradition |
Schumpeterian |
| Influences |
Karl Marx Joseph Schumpeter John Desmond Bernal |
| Influenced |
Keith Pavitt Carlota Perez Mary Kaldor Luc Soete Giorgio Sirilli Giovanni Dosi B.-Å. Lundvall Daniele Archibugi Jan Fagerberg |
Christopher Freeman (11 September 1921 – 16 August 2010) was an English economist, the founder and first director of Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, and one of the most eminent researchers in innovation studies, modern Kondratiev wave and business cycle theorists. Freeman contributed substantially to the revival of the neo-Schumpeterian tradition focusing on the crucial role of innovation for economic development and of scientific and technological activities for well-being.
Freeman was the founder and the first Director, from 1966 to 1982 of SPRU, the Science Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex, England, and RM Phillips Professor of Science Policy and later Professor emeritus of at the University of Sussex. His fields of specialization were the economics of innovation and technical change, science and technology indicators, the diffusion of technologies, structural change in the world economy, and the "catch-up" efforts of developing countries. In 1986, on his formal retirement, he became visiting professor at the Aalborg University in Denmark and professorial fellow at the now Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Besides his intellectual contributions in the economics of innovation and systems of innovation, Christopher Freeman was 'an academic entrepreneur'. Among the innovations for which he was responsible was 'The Frascati Manual', an OECD venture meant to collect and standardize the statistics on R&D, and the subsequent stream of work science and technology indicators at OECD and around the world. Secondly, he set up, shaped and for many years directed the Science Policy Research Unit, SPRU, which during the 1970s and 1980s was the pioneering institution in the field. Thirdly, with colleagues at SPRU, in the United States, in France and in Germany, he founded and edited for over 30 years the journal 'Research Policy', establishing it as the leading journal in the field.
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