Brilliant ideas are key to economic growth. They often emerge from scientific discoveries with no immediate commercial value - so rewards may not be aligned to effort. Should basic research be publicly or privately funded? And, to foster innovation and growth, what kinds of discovery should be...

Firm success is often associated with the development of better products. Private firms undertake applied R&D seeking market advantage, by capitalizing on the freely accessible results of basic research. But unpatentable basic research often fails to address applied R&D open problems. What is...