Technology Commercialization

This title examines both general research and development commercialization and targeted new product innovation. New product development is a major occupation of the technical sector of the global economy and is viewed in many ways as a means of economic stability for a business, an industry, and a country. The heart of the book is a detailing of the analytical methods - with special, but not exclusive emphasis on DEA methods - for evaluating and ranking the most promising R&D and technical innovation being developed. The sponsors of the research and development may involve universities, countries, industries, and corporations - all of these sources are covered in the book. In addition, the trade-off of environmental problems vis-a-vis new product development is discussed in a section of the book. Sten Thore has woven together the chapter contributions by a strong group of international researchers into a book that has characteristics of both a monograph and a unified edited volume of well-written papers in DEA, technology evaluation, R&D, and environmental economics. The book's emphasis on methods for evaluative ranking the multiple dimensions of research and development should make the book useful for a wide audience of researchers, students, and practitioners. Finally, the use of DEA as an evaluation method for product innovation is an important new development in the field of R&D commercialization.