ECN 410: Economics of Innovation and Technology
Department of Economics
Summer 2025
Course Description and Objectives:
This course surveys a range of topics in the economics of innovations and technology. We will first take a brief tour of the history of innovation and technology, from the first Industrial
Revolution to modern times. We will then discuss theoretical and empirical topics in economics of innovation and technology, including the contribution of technological innovations to economic growth, the innovation process, economic theories on entrepreneurship, intellectual property rights and the patent system, the effects of academic and public R&D, and the relationship between innovation and employment.
Course Materials:
Lecture materials will primarily be drawn from the following texts. Most of the required readings are accessible as e-text via SU Library (https://library.syr.edu/).
• Scotchmer, S., Innovation and Incentives, MIT Press, 2004 (e-text via SU Library)
• Church, J. and R. Ware, Industrial Organization: A Strategic Approach, Irwin McGraw- Hill, 2000 (https://works.bepress.com/jeffrey_church/23/)
• Freeman, C. & L. Soete, The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 3 ed., MIT Press, 1997 (e-text via SU Library)
• Steil, B, D. Victor, and R. Nelson, eds., Technological Innovation and Economic Performance, Princeton University Press, 2002 (e-text via SU Library)
• Fagerberg, J, D. Mowery, and R. Nelson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, 2005 (e-text via SU Library)
Supplemental materials (videos, news articles, etc.) may be given for select topics.
Grading Policy:
Course grade is based on performance on the following
• Lecture Video Assignments (20%)
• Weekly Tech News Discussions (20%)
• Exam 1 (20%)
• Exam 2 (20%)
• Exam 3 (20%)
Lecture Video Assignments: You earn points in this component of the course grade by spending time watching lecture videos and answering the questions at the end of each video. This is worth 20% of your overall course grade. Lecture slide handouts for each topic are available to help you take notes.
Weekly Tech News Discussions: You are expected to keep abreast with current news on technology and innovation. To demonstrate this, you are strongly encouraged, i.e., required to submit ONE post to the Blackboard tech news discussions for Week 2, 3, 4, and 5. Your submission needs to contain the following:
• URL link to the news article, podcast, or video
• Summary of the contents IN YOUR OWN WORDS
• Analysis and/or personal reflection on the impact of the technology IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
You may not use the same source or content that someone else has posted.
You earn up to 3 points for the post you submit per week. Points are awarded according to
• The quality of the summary, analysis, and personal reflection
• Evidence that the summary, analysis, and personal reflection are indeed your own work that reflects your original thoughts (as opposed to outputs from some gen AI program, e.g. ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Grok, and etc.)
• Timing of your submission: posts submitted before 11PM every Wednesday of the week,
Eastern Time, are eligible for the maximum 3 points grade consideration. Posts submitted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the week will receive maximum 2.5, 2, and 1 point, respectively.
You are also “strongly encouraged” to respond to TWO posts by your classmates per week with your own personal reflection. You earn maximum 1 point for each response. Points are awarded according to the quality of your response and evidence that the responses reflect your original thoughts (as opposed to outputs from some gen AI program, e.g. ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Grok, and etc.)
Exams: Exams are non-cumulative. More details will be announced close to exam dates. See Course Schedule at the bottom of the syllabus for dates of the exams.
Final course grade will be determined as follows:
A >= 93 A- 90 – 92.9
B+ 87 – 89.9 B 83 – 86.9 B- 80 – 82.9
C+ 77 – 79.9 C 73 – 76.9 C- 70 – 72.9
D 60 – 69.9 F < 60
Prerequisite: ECN 301/311 Intermediate Microeconomics AND ECN302 Intermediate Macroeconomics