Andrew Smyth, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, recently shared his ongoing research on the evolution of corporate research and development laboratories in the United States. Following his seminar given to the Department of Economics at Boise State, Smyth presented his work to the Department of Economics at Auburn University in Alabama in November 2024.
His research, co-authored with Walter Melnik of Marquette University, examines the shift away from centralized research and development by large U.S. corporations between the late 1970s and 2000. A key objective of this work is to provide quantitative evidence of this significant decline.
Building on the insights gained from these presentations, Smyth is currently collaborating with a team of undergraduate students from Boise State’s Department of Computer Science. Their efforts are focused on digitizing additional data to further enrich the project. The ultimate aim of this research is to construct the most comprehensive picture possible of corporate research and development labs during the last quarter of the 20th century.