Of Mice and Academics: Examining the Effect of Openness on Innovation

Fiona Murray, Philippe Aghion, Mathias Dewatripont, Julian Kolev, Scott Stern · 2016 · American Economic Journal Economic Policy

Summary. Reduced access costs to research materials boost innovation by encouraging new researchers to enter fields and explore diverse research directions. Using NIH agreements that lowered costs for accessing genetically engineered mice in the late 1990s, the authors find that openness increased both researcher entry and research diversity without reducing the creation of new research tools. Strong intellectual property restrictions impose hidden costs by limiting exploration and reducing research output diversity.

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Murray, F., Aghion, P., Dewatripont, M., Kolev, J., & Stern, S.. (2016). Of Mice and Academics: Examining the Effect of Openness on Innovation. American Economic Journal Economic Policy. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140062

@article{murray-2016-mice-academics-examining-effect-openness,
  title   = {Of Mice and Academics: Examining the Effect of Openness on Innovation},
  author  = {Fiona Murray and Philippe Aghion and Mathias Dewatripont and Julian Kolev and Scott Stern},
  journal = {American Economic Journal Economic Policy},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1257/pol.20140062},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140062}
}

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TI  - Of Mice and Academics: Examining the Effect of Openness on Innovation
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AU  - Philippe Aghion
AU  - Mathias Dewatripont
AU  - Julian Kolev
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Details

DOI: 10.1257/pol.20140062
Countries: United States
Regions: North America
Categories: innovation-theory, policy, general-innovation
Added: 2026-04-28