Levin touts role of university research in Hong Kong talk

President Richard C. Levin discussed the economic impact of university research in a recent address to the Asia Society in Hong Kong. Levin's address, "The American Research University as an Engine of Economic Growth," focused on the link between basic scientific research and technological advances in U.S. industry.

"Our universities are an essential source of America's competitiveness and, ultimately a well spring of worldwide growth and prosperity," Levin told his audience. "America remains the world's leader in the industries where science-based technologies are changing rapidly -- software, communication equipment and biotechnology. As technologies mature, labor cost, quality control, and other factors become more important in determining competitive success, and the United States tends to lose its comparative advantage.

Innovation spurs growth. "The dynamic sectors of the American economy -- where new jobs are created and productivity growth is most rapid -- remain those that create innovative new products based on the application of recent scientific knowledge," he noted. "As the nation's principal locus of basic scientific research, our universities play a key role in this pattern of economic competitiveness and growth."

Government funding of basic research conducted by universities has been a proven recipe for American economic success for 50 years, noted Levin, who is the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics. "It is unlikely that this success could be duplicated by industry," he said. "The private sector has little incentive to invest in basic research because the returns from the creation of new generic knowledge are difficult to appropriate for private benefit."

Locating most fundamental scientific research in universities also means that the next generation of scientists receives its education and training from the nation's best scientists, who teach as they pursue their research, the President explained.

Education benefits economy. "By engaging students in intellectual inquiry, making them active participants in the search to know, and fostering their problem-solving abilities, universities and colleges contribute to economic growth through their teaching as well as their research," Levin said. "And it is not only the education of industrial scientists and engineers that has an impact on economic performance, it is the education of all those engaged in the business sector -- executives, entrepreneurs, financiers and consultants alike."

The Asia Society was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller to foster understanding between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. Headquartered in New York City, the Asia Society has regional centers in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. Among those who have addressed the Asia Society in Hong Kong this year are former U.S. Secretaries of State James Baker III and Warren Christopher and economist Lester Thurow.

Levin, who visited Singapore as well as Hong Kong, met with academics from The National University of Singapore, Hong Kong University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with which Yale has long-standing partnerships. He also met with alumni, business leaders and government officials.