Working Papers

Does Peer Review Penalize Scientific Risk Taking? Evidence from NIH Grant Renewals. Azoulay, Pierre; Greenblatt, Wesley H. Working Paper, February 2025. [NBER Working Paper]

Published Articles

Indirect Cost Recovery in U.S. Innovation Policy: History, Evidence, and Avenues for Reform. Azoulay, Pierre; Gross, Daniel P.; Sampat, Bhaven N. Entrepreneurship & Innovation Policy and the Economy, 5: 133-182, 2026. [DOI] [Article] [NBER Working Paper]

What if NIH had Been 40% Smaller? Azoulay, Pierre; Clancy, Matthew; Li, Danielle; Sampat, Bhaven N. Science, 389(6767): 1303-1305, 2025. [DOI] [Supplementary Materials] [Replication Package]

Paper Tiger? Chinese Science and Home Bias in Citations. Qiu, Shumin; Steinwender, Claudia; Azoulay, Pierre. Journal of International Economics, 157: 104123, 2025. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper]

Medical Progress and Health Care Finance: Evidence from Academic Medical Centers. Azoulay, Pierre; Heggeness, Misty; Kao, Jennifer. Research Policy, 54(2): 105163, 2025. [DOI]

Old Moats for New Models: Openness, Control, and Competition in Generative AI. Azoulay, Pierre; Krieger, Joshua L.; Nagaraj, Abhishek. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, 4: 7-46, 2025. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper] [PDF]

Who Stands on the Shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from Chemistry. Qiu, Shumin; Steinwender, Claudia; Azoulay, Pierre. Research Policy, 54(1): 105147, 2025. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper]

Immigration and Entrepreneurship in the United States. Azoulay, Pierre; Jones, Benjamin; Kim, J. Daniel; Miranda, Javier. American Economic Review: Insights, 4(1): 71-88, 2022. [DOI] [PDF] [NBER Working Paper]

Long-term Effects from Early Exposure to Research: Evidence from the NIH “Yellow Berets.” Azoulay, Pierre; Greenblatt, Wesley H.; Heggeness, Misty L. Research Policy, 50(9): 104332, 2021. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper] [Non-technical Summary] [PDF]

Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science. Azoulay, Pierre; Lynn, Freda B. Sociological Science, 7: 152-186, 2020. [DOI] [PDF]

Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship. Azoulay, Pierre; Jones, Benjamin; Kim, Daniel; Miranda, Javier. American Economic Review: Insights, 2(1): 65-82, 2020. [DOI] [PDF]

Inside Job or Deep Impact? Using Extramural Citations to Assess Economic Scholarship. Angrist, Joshua; Azoulay, Pierre; Ellison, Glenn; Hill, Ryan; Lu, Susan Feng. Journal of Economic Literature, 58(1): 3-52, 2020. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper]

Death of the Salesman, But Not the Sales Force: How Interested Promotion Skews Scientific Valuation. Azoulay, Pierre; Whalen, J. Michael; Zuckerman, Ezra. American Journal of Sociology, 125(3): 786-845, 2019. [PDF] [NBER Working Paper] [Replication Archive]

Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time? Azoulay, Pierre; Fons-Rosen, Christian; Graff Zivin, Joshua S. American Economic Review, 109(8): 2889-2920, 2019. [DOI] [NBER Working Paper] [PDF]

Funding Breakthrough Research: Promises and Challenges of the “ARPA Model.” Azoulay, Pierre; Fuchs, Erica; Goldstein, Anna P.; Kearney, Michael. Innovation Policy and the Economy, 19: 69-96, 2019. [PDF] [NBER Working Paper]

Public R&D Investments and Private Sector Patenting: Evidence from NIH Funding Rules. Azoulay, Pierre; Graff Zivin, Joshua S.; Li, Danielle; Sampat, Bhaven N. Review of Economic Studies, 86(1): 117-152, 2019. [PDF] [NBER Working Paper]

Status Spillovers: The Effect of Status-Conferring Prizes on the Allocation of Attention. Reschke, Brian P.; Azoulay, Pierre; Stuart, Toby E. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(4): 819-847, 2018. [DOI]

The Career Effects of Scandal: Evidence from Scientific Retractions. Azoulay, Pierre; Bonatti, Alessandro; Krieger, Joshua L. Research Policy, 46(9): 1552-1569, 2017. [DOI]

Economic Research Evolves: Fields and Styles. Ellison, Glenn; Angrist, Joshua; Azoulay, Pierre; Hill, Ryan; Lu, Susan. AER: Papers & Proceedings, 107(5): 293-297, 2017. [DOI]

The Applied Value of Public Investments in Biomedical Research. Li, Danielle; Azoulay, Pierre; Sampat, Bhaven N. Science, 356(6333): 78-81, 2017. [DOI]

The Mobility of Elite Life Scientists: Professional and Personal Determinants. Azoulay, Pierre; Ganguli, Ina; Graff Zivin, Joshua. Research Policy, 46(3): 573-590, 2017. [DOI]

Social Influence Given (Partially) Deliberate Matching: Career Imprints in the Creation of Academic Entrepreneurs. Azoulay, Pierre; Liu, Christopher C.; Stuart, Toby. American Journal of Sociology, 122(4): 1223-1271, 2017. [PDF]

Retractions. Azoulay, Pierre; Furman, Jeffrey L.; Krieger, Joshua L.; Murray, Fiona. Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(5): 1118-1136, 2015. [DOI]

Matthew: Effect or Fable? Azoulay, Pierre; Stuart, Toby; Wang, Yanbo. Management Science, 60(1): 92-109, 2014. [DOI] [Documentation] [Data] [Appendix]

Empirical Studies of the Diffusion of Scientific and Technological Knowledge: Some Methodological Considerations. Azoulay, Pierre. Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 39(3): 73-87, 2012. [DOI]

Research Efficiency: Turn the Scientific Method on Ourselves. Azoulay, Pierre. Nature, 484(7392): 31-32, 2012. [DOI]

Incentives and Creativity: Evidence from the Academic Life Sciences. Azoulay, Pierre; Manso, Gustavo; Graff Zivin, Joshua. RAND Journal of Economics, 42(3): 527-554, 2011. [DOI]

Superstar Extinction. Azoulay, Pierre; Graff Zivin, Joshua; Wang, Jialan. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(2): 549-589, 2010. [DOI]

Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Embeddedness Failure in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Azoulay, Pierre; Repenning, Nelson P.; Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(3): 472-507, 2010. [DOI] [Appendix]

The Effect of Academic Patenting on the Rate, Quality, and Direction of (Public) Research Output. Azoulay, Pierre; Ding, Waverly; Stuart, Toby. Journal of Industrial Economics, 57(4): 637-676, 2009. [DOI] [Slides]

The Anatomy of Medical School Patenting. Azoulay, Pierre; Michigan, Ryan; Sampat, Bhaven. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(20): 2049-2056, 2007. [PubMed]

The Determinants of Faculty Patenting Behavior: Demographics or Opportunities? Azoulay, Pierre; Ding, Waverly; Stuart, Toby. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organizations, 63(4): 599-623, 2007. [DOI]

Publication Harvester: An Open-Source Software Tool for Science Policy Research. Azoulay, Pierre; Stellman, Andrew; Graff Zivin, Joshua. Research Policy, 35(7): 970-974, 2006. [DOI]

Capturing Knowledge Within and Across Firm Boundaries: Evidence from Clinical Development. Azoulay, Pierre. American Economic Review, 94(5): 1591-1612, 2004. [DOI]

Consumption Externalities and Diffusion in Pharmaceutical Markets: Anti-Ulcer Drugs. Berndt, Ernst; Azoulay, Pierre; Pindyck, Robert S. Journal of Industrial Economics, 51(2): 243-270, 2003. [DOI]

Do Pharmaceutical Sales Respond to Scientific Evidence? Azoulay, Pierre. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 11(4): 551-594, 2002. [DOI]

Entrepreneurs, Contracts, and the Failure of Young Firms. Azoulay, Pierre; Shane, Scott. Management Science, 47(3): 337-358, 2001. [DOI]

Book Chapters and Other Materials

Brief of Scholars of Economics and Innovation as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellees in Massachusetts v. NIH. Azoulay, Pierre; Gross, Daniel P.; Ouellette, Lisa Larrimore; Sampat, Bhaven. Massachusetts v. NIH, Nos. 25-1343, 25-1344, 25-1345 (1st Cir. 2025), June 20, 2025. [SSRN]

Scientific Grant Funding. Azoulay, Pierre; Li, Danielle. In Innovation and Public Policy, eds. Austan Goolsbee and Ben Jones, pp. 117-150. University of Chicago Press, 2022. [Chapter] [NBER Working Paper]

NIH Peer Review: Challenges and Avenues for Reform. Azoulay, Pierre; Graff Zivin, Joshua; Manso, Gustavo. In Innovation Policy and the Economy, pp. 1-21. University of Chicago Press, 2012. [Chapter]

Technological Innovation and Organizations. Azoulay, Pierre; Lerner, Joshua. In The Handbook of Organizational Economics, eds. John Roberts and Robert Gibbons, pp. 575-603. Princeton University Press, 2012. [Chapter]

The Diffusion of Scientific Knowledge Across Time and Space: Evidence from Professional Transitions for the Superstars of Medicine. Azoulay, Pierre; Graff Zivin, Joshua; Sampat, Bhaven. In The Rate & Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited, eds. Joshua Lerner and Scott Stern, pp. 107-155. University of Chicago Press, 2012. [Chapter]

Punditry

NIH needs reforms, but use a scalpel, not a hatchet. Flier, Jeffrey S.; Azoulay, Pierre. The Boston Globe, March 5, 2025. [Article]

Beat COVID-19 through innovation. Azoulay, Pierre; Jones, Benjamin. Science, 368(6491): 553, 2020. [Article]

Small-team Science is Beautiful. Azoulay, Pierre. Nature, 566(7744): 330-332, 2019. [Article]

Turn the Scientific Method on Ourselves. Azoulay, Pierre. Nature, 484(7392): 31-32, 2012. [Article]

Why Big Pharma Should Think Twice Before Working With Trump. Azoulay, Pierre. Fortune.com, February 6, 2017. [Article]

Zombie Papers

The Rise of For-Profit Experimental Medicine. Azoulay, Pierre; Fishman, Ariel Y. MIT Sloan Working Paper 6050-20, December 2021. [SSRN] [NBER Working Paper]