Federal spending on innovation programs is often seen as a prime place for budget cuts, as its value can be hard to determine tangibly. AAF’s Director of Energy Policy Philip Rossetti explores which innovation programs are the most efficient in generating measurable innovations, as well as what structural policies could be best for spurring greater effectiveness in these programs.

His primary findings are:

• The government spends approximately $124 billion per year on Research and Development with the aim of bolstering economic productivity;
• The Department of Energy (DOE) is by far one of the most efficient producers of government research, producing 3.5 times as many patents per dollar spent and receiving nearly twice as many licenses per patent as the government average; and
• Reforms to government research and development efforts should aim to replicate the successes of DOE, which are principally rooted in its high deference to researchers, a focus on private-public partnerships, and technology commercialization.

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