Keith Pavitt
Encyclopedia
Keith Pavitt was an English scholar in the field of Science and Technology Policy. He was professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex
from 1984 to his death.
, London
, and as a child he experienced air-bombing, spending a lot of time in bomb shelters. He got an open scholarship to study at Trinity College, Cambridge
. During National Service
, he qualified as an RAF pilot. At Cambridge
he obtained a First in Engineering
in 1959 and was Senior Scholar at Trinity. He won a fellowship in economics
and public policy
at Harvard University
in 1969-1961.
He then joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris
. In the early 1960s, this was carrying out pioneering policy research, in particular on the development of policies for science
, engineering
and innovation
. During this time he started a life-long collaboration with Chris Freeman
, a British economist
who was developing some of the first international statistics on Research and Development
.
After a year at Princeton University
, Pavitt moved to Sussex University in 1971. For 30 years Pavitt was at the forefront of SPRU research.
He received a Laurea Honoris Causa from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
was used by several scholars and it is still a milestone in innovation measurement. Together with Roy Rothwell, he also developed the theory and practice of innovation management.
As co-editor of academic journal
Research Policy. Policy and management studies of science, technology and innovation,. he contributed to enhance its reputation to become the most influential publication in the field.
of innovating firms. Pavitt argued that the sources and purposes of innovation are sector-specific. On the ground of an impressive knowledge of industrial innovation
, Pavitt's Taxonomy
suggests that firms can be divided into four broad categories: supplier dominated firms, i.e. those firms that acquire their technical expertise from their suppliers, specialized suppliers, especially in the field of equipment and capital goods, which provide the innovations to other firms, scale dominated firms, where the innovation is associated to scale, and science based firms, which innovate through their internal R&D laboratories. Pavitt's Taxonomy
has been widely applied in industrial economics and science policy
and it is also used for industrial statistics. Originally developed for the manufacturing
sector, is now increasingly applied also to the service economy
.
, to make SPRU a centre of international excellence in the field of innovation
studies, with close collaboration with colleagues from all continents. He collaborated closely with Belgian economist Luc Soete
, with Italian social scientist Giovanni Dosi
, and he kept a strong intellectual link with the American economist Richard R. Nelson. A large number of papers were co-authored with the Indian economist Pari Patel. He also supervised and worked with several economists of innovation and science policy scholars, including Giorgio Sirilli, Ben Martin
, Mike Hobday, Ian Miles, Luigi Orsenigo, Daniele Archibugi
, Jan Fagerberg
, and Diana Hicks.
For his retirement, his colleagues organized a major Conference in honour of Keith Pavitt “What do we know about innovation?”. Unexpectedly, Pavitt died several months before the Conference was held. The Conference became a major tribute to his life and works. The most important scholars in the field of science and technology policy attended it at SPRU, University of Sussex
, on 12–15 November 2003,
The Library of the Science Policy Research Unit and the Laboratorio di Economia dell’Innovazione of the University of Florence
are named after him.
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
from 1984 to his death.
Biography
Keith Pavitt grew up in HackneyLondon Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and as a child he experienced air-bombing, spending a lot of time in bomb shelters. He got an open scholarship to study at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. During National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, he qualified as an RAF pilot. At Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
he obtained a First in Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
in 1959 and was Senior Scholar at Trinity. He won a fellowship in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1969-1961.
He then joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In the early 1960s, this was carrying out pioneering policy research, in particular on the development of policies for science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
. During this time he started a life-long collaboration with Chris Freeman
Christopher Freeman
Christopher Freeman was an English economist, the founder and first director of Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, and one of the most eminent modern Kondratiev wave and business cycle theorists...
, a British economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
who was developing some of the first international statistics on Research and Development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
.
After a year at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, Pavitt moved to Sussex University in 1971. For 30 years Pavitt was at the forefront of SPRU research.
He received a Laurea Honoris Causa from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Contributions to science and technology policy
Keith Pavitt pioneered new methods to measure innovation and technical change. Together with Pari Patel, he developed the use of patents as a science and technology indicator. In the early 1980s, he also developed, together with John Townsend and other colleagues, a comprehensive database of innovations introduced in the UK since the end of the war. This databaseDatabase
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
was used by several scholars and it is still a milestone in innovation measurement. Together with Roy Rothwell, he also developed the theory and practice of innovation management.
As co-editor of academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
Research Policy. Policy and management studies of science, technology and innovation,. he contributed to enhance its reputation to become the most influential publication in the field.
Pavitt's Taxonomy
The single most important contribution provided by Pavitt to the economics of innovation is his taxonomyTaxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of innovating firms. Pavitt argued that the sources and purposes of innovation are sector-specific. On the ground of an impressive knowledge of industrial innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
, Pavitt's Taxonomy
Pavitt's Taxonomy
Pavitt's Taxonomy categorizes mostly large industrial firms along trajectories of technological change according to sources of technology, requirements of the users, and appropriability regime . The taxonomy aims to classify innovation modes according to different sectoral groups and the flow of...
suggests that firms can be divided into four broad categories: supplier dominated firms, i.e. those firms that acquire their technical expertise from their suppliers, specialized suppliers, especially in the field of equipment and capital goods, which provide the innovations to other firms, scale dominated firms, where the innovation is associated to scale, and science based firms, which innovate through their internal R&D laboratories. Pavitt's Taxonomy
Pavitt's Taxonomy
Pavitt's Taxonomy categorizes mostly large industrial firms along trajectories of technological change according to sources of technology, requirements of the users, and appropriability regime . The taxonomy aims to classify innovation modes according to different sectoral groups and the flow of...
has been widely applied in industrial economics and science policy
Science policy
Science policy is an area of public policy concerned with the policies that affect the conduct of the science and research enterprise, including the funding of science, often in pursuance of other national policy goals such as technological innovation to promote commercial product development,...
and it is also used for industrial statistics. Originally developed for the manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
sector, is now increasingly applied also to the service economy
Service economy
Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...
.
Legacy
Keith Pavitt was a crucial figure, together with his mentor Chris FreemanChristopher Freeman
Christopher Freeman was an English economist, the founder and first director of Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, and one of the most eminent modern Kondratiev wave and business cycle theorists...
, to make SPRU a centre of international excellence in the field of innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
studies, with close collaboration with colleagues from all continents. He collaborated closely with Belgian economist Luc Soete
Luc Soete
Luc Soete is a Belgian economist, Rector Magnificus Professor of International Economic Relations at the School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University and director of UNU-MERIT, a joint research institute of the United Nations University and Maastricht University...
, with Italian social scientist Giovanni Dosi
Giovanni Dosi
Giovanni Dosi is Professor at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa , where he also coordinates the International Doctoral Program in Economics and leads the Laboratory of Economics and Management...
, and he kept a strong intellectual link with the American economist Richard R. Nelson. A large number of papers were co-authored with the Indian economist Pari Patel. He also supervised and worked with several economists of innovation and science policy scholars, including Giorgio Sirilli, Ben Martin
Ben Martin
-External links:...
, Mike Hobday, Ian Miles, Luigi Orsenigo, Daniele Archibugi
Daniele Archibugi
Daniele Archibugi is an Italian economic and political theorist. He works on the economics and policy of innovation and technological change, on the political theory of international relations and on political and technological globalisation....
, Jan Fagerberg
Jan Fagerberg
Jan Fagerberg is professor at the University of Oslo, Norway.He is, or has been, affiliated with many institutions including: the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture , the Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy ; the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the...
, and Diana Hicks.
For his retirement, his colleagues organized a major Conference in honour of Keith Pavitt “What do we know about innovation?”. Unexpectedly, Pavitt died several months before the Conference was held. The Conference became a major tribute to his life and works. The most important scholars in the field of science and technology policy attended it at SPRU, University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
, on 12–15 November 2003,
The Library of the Science Policy Research Unit and the Laboratorio di Economia dell’Innovazione of the University of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
are named after him.
Works by Keith Pavitt
- Joe Tidd, John Bessant and Keith Pavitt, Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change, 3rd Edition, John Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2005, ISBN 0470093269
- Keith Pavitt, Technology, Management and Systems of Innovation, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1999 ISBN 1858988748 (a collection of the most influential papers).
- Giovanni DosiGiovanni DosiGiovanni Dosi is Professor at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa , where he also coordinates the International Doctoral Program in Economics and leads the Laboratory of Economics and Management...
, Keith Pavitt, Luc SoeteLuc SoeteLuc Soete is a Belgian economist, Rector Magnificus Professor of International Economic Relations at the School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University and director of UNU-MERIT, a joint research institute of the United Nations University and Maastricht University...
, The Economics of Technical Change and International Trade, New York University Press, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 1991, ISBN 0814718345.
- Keith Pavitt, Sectoral patterns of technical change: Towards a taxonomy and a theoryPavitt's TaxonomyPavitt's Taxonomy categorizes mostly large industrial firms along trajectories of technological change according to sources of technology, requirements of the users, and appropriability regime . The taxonomy aims to classify innovation modes according to different sectoral groups and the flow of...
, "Research Policy", Volume 13, Issue 6, December 1984, Pages 343-373 .
Works on Keith Pavitt
- Daniele ArchibugiDaniele ArchibugiDaniele Archibugi is an Italian economic and political theorist. He works on the economics and policy of innovation and technological change, on the political theory of international relations and on political and technological globalisation....
, “Pavitt's Taxonomy Sixteen Years on: A Review Article”, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, vol. 3 (2001), pp. 415–425.
- Chris FreemanChristopher FreemanChristopher Freeman was an English economist, the founder and first director of Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, and one of the most eminent modern Kondratiev wave and business cycle theorists...
, Pari Patel and Ben Martin, Keith Pavitt. Pioneer in science policy research. Obituary , the Independent, 31 January 2003.
- Martin Meyer, Tiago Santos Pereirac, Olle Persson and Ove Granstrand, “The Scientometric World of Keith Pavitt: A Tribute to his contributions to Research Policy and Patent Analysis”, Research Policy, Vol. 33, no. 9 (2004), pages 1405-1417.
- Bart Verspagen and Claudia Werker, “Keith Pavitt and the Invisible College of the Economics of Technology and Innovation”, Research Policy. Vol. 33, no. 9 (2004), pages: 1419-1431
External links
- http://www.inovasyon.org/pdf/Keith_Pavitt.pdf