Doctoral Dissertation Research in Science of Science and Innovation Policy: How Do Prizes Induce Innovation? Learning from the Google Lunar X-Prize

这个项目调查了技术奖和它们诱导创新的手段。具体而言，该项目审查了三个航空航天奖项竞赛：(1)安萨里x奖（奖励“第一个在两周内两次将可重复使用的载人飞船送入太空的非政府组织”）(2)诺斯罗普·格鲁曼月球着陆器挑战赛（NGLLC）（奖励“建造和飞行模拟月球上飞行器飞行的火箭动力飞行器”），以及(3)正在进行的3000万美元的月球x奖（GLXP），要求参与者将机器人降落在月球表面。本项目研究了这些竞赛的三个主要方面：(1)获奖者如何对激励作出反应，(2)他们如何组织研发活动，以及(3)在这种背景下技术进步如何发生。智力优势：本项目采用两阶段的研究设计，采用多种数据来源，采用问卷调查、访谈和直接观察等不同的数据收集方法。第一阶段测试奖励模型，该模型将激励与进入者特征、研发组织和技术成果联系起来。通过研究安萨里x奖和nglc竞赛，对该模型进行了检验和修正。第二阶段将修订后的模型应用于正在进行的GLXP和获奖者，由于其实时数据访问和探索获奖者在以技术不确定性为特征的竞争环境中的实时感知的可能性，这具有特殊的意义。更广泛的影响：该项目有助于创新理论。此外，它还对通过使用奖励来推进技术、提高竞争力或实现其他社会目标的政策产生了重大影响。此外，从这项研究中获得的见解也可以应用于商业、技术管理和工程系统设计等领域。更广泛地说，该项目有助于更好地了解经济危机时期技术政策的潜力，以及可能促进不同社会群体（包括代表性不足的群体和学生）在竞争环境中参与培训的激励措施。

This project investigates technology prizes and the means by which they induce innovation. Specifically, the project examines three aerospace prize competitions: (1) the Ansari X-Prize (rewarding "the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks") (2) the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC) (for "building and flying a rocket-powered vehicle that simulates the flight of a vehicle on the Moon"), and (3) the ongoing $30 million Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP), which requires participants to land a robot on the surface of the Moon. This project studies three main aspects of those competitions: (1) how prize entrants respond to incentives, (2) how they organize R&D activities, and (3) how technology advancement takes place in this context.Intellectual Merit: The project combines a two-stage research design, multiple data sources, and different data gathering methods, including questionnaires, interviews and direct observation. The first stage tests a model of prizes that links incentives with entrant characteristics, R&D organization, and technological outcomes. This model is tested and revised by studying the Ansari X-Prize and NGLLC competitions. The second stage applies the revised model to the ongoing GLXP and prize entrants, which has exceptional significance due to its real-time data access and possibility to explore real-time perceptions of prize entrants in a competitive context characterized by technological uncertainty.Broader Impact: The project contributes to innovation theory. In addition, it draws significant implications for policies to advance technology, promote competitiveness, or achieve other societal goals by using prizes. Moreover, insights gained from this research can be also applied across fields like business, technology management, and engineering systems design. More broadly, this project contributes a better understanding on the potential of technology policies in times of economic crisis and the incentives that may promote engagement of different social groups, including underrepresented groups and students, for training within a competitive environment.