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Pierre Azoulay

I am a Professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

My general research interests lie at the intersection of several subfields of economics: technical change, labor, health, and organizational economics. Most of my work deals with the organization of the “ideas sector” of the economy, and the consequences of different institutional arrangements for innovation, and ultimately economic growth.

A research summary published in the NBER Reporter provides a good introduction to my research activities, many of which are performed with Joshua Graff Zivin of UCSD.

Pierre Azoulay, Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management

Featured Research

"Immigration and Entrepreneurship in the United States." Azoulay, Pierre, Benjamin Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda. American Economic Review: Insights Vol. 4, No. 1 (2022): 71-88. Download Paper. Also NBER Working Paper #27778.

"Long-term Effects from Early Exposure to Research: Evidence from the NIH 'Yellow Berets'."
Azoulay, Pierre, Wesley H. Greenblatt, and Misty L. Heggeness. Research Policy Vol. 50, No. 9 (2021): 104332. NBER Working Paper #26069. Non-technical summary of the paper. Download Paper.

"Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship."
Azoulay, Pierre, Benjamin Jones, Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda. American Economic Review: Insights Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020): 65-82. Download Paper.

"​Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?"
Azoulay, Pierre, Christian Fons-Rosen, and Joshua S. Graff Zivin. American Economic Review Vol. 109, No. 8 (2019): 2889-2920. Also NBER Working Paper #21788. Download Paper.

"Public R&D Investments and Private Sector Patenting: Evidence from NIH Funding Rules."
Azoulay, Pierre, Joshua S. Graff Zivin, Danielle Li, and Bhaven N. Sampat. Review of Economic Studies Vol. 86, No. 1 (2019): 117-152. Also NBER Working Paper #20889.

Media Mentions

The value of funding the NIH

A new study published in the journal Science finds that NIH funding generates large spillovers from the lab to commercial activity.

Do the Deaths of Top Scientists Make Way for New Growth?

A study suggests that after prominent scientists die, their fields see an influx of work from lesser-known researchers.

For Entrepreneurs, 45 Is The New 25

New research forthcoming in American Economic Review: Insights casts doubt on the idea that youth is advantageous when it comes to entrepreneurial success.