Scott Stern

About

Scott Stern is the David Sarnoff Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research explores how innovation and entrepreneurship differ from traditional economic activities, focusing on their implications for strategy and policy. Stern's work in the economics of innovation and entrepreneurship includes studying entrepreneurial strategy, innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems, and innovation policy and management. He has investigated the impact of clusters on entrepreneurship, the role of institutions in shaping scientific and technical knowledge, and the drivers and consequences of entrepreneurial strategy. Stern has worked extensively with practitioners, advising start-ups, growth firms, governments, and stakeholders on issues related to competitiveness and regional performance. He has developed popular elective courses such as Entrepreneurial Strategy, co-founded the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, and contributed to initiatives like the Social Progress Index and the US Cluster Mapping Project. Stern began his career at MIT, teaching from 1995 to 2001, and held positions at the Kellogg School of Management and the Brookings Institution before returning to MIT in 2009. He is the director and co-founder of the Innovation Policy Working Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Stern holds a BA in economics from New York University and a PhD in economics from Stanford University. His work has earned him several…

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Business
• Sociology
• Economics
• Marketing
• Political Science
• Ecology
• Finance
• Environmental resource management
• Microeconomics

Selected publications

• The State of American Entrepreneurship: New Estimates of the Quantity and Quality of Entrepreneurship for 32 US States, 1988–2014

  American Economic Journal Economic Policy · 165 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Assessing the state of American entrepreneurship requires not simply counting the quantity but also the initial quality of new ventures. Combining comprehensive business registries and predictive analytics, we present estimates of entrepreneurial quantity and quality from 1988 to 2014. Rather than a secular pattern of declining business dynamism, our quality-adjusted measures follow a cyclical pattern sensitive to economic and capital market conditions. Consistent with the role of investment cyc…

  DOI

• The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth

  2022 · 54 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Accelerating Innovation Ecosystems: The Promise and Challenges of Regional Innovation Engines

  Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy · 2024 · 25 citations

  Motivated by the recent establishment of major US federal programs seeking to harness the potential of regional innovation ecosystems, we assess the promise and challenges of place-based innovation policy interventions. Relative to traditional research grants, place-based innovation policy interventions are not directed toward a specific research project but rather aim to reshape interactions among researchers and other stakeholders within a given geographic location. The most recent such policy…

  PublisherDOI

• Accelerating Innovation Ecosystems: The Promise and Challenges of Regional Innovation Engines

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Of Academics and Creative Destruction: Startup Advantage in the Process of Innovation

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Josh Lerner

  Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

  142 shared

• Jorge Guzmán

  97 shared

• Catherine Fazio

  Boston University

  73 shared

• Adam B. Jaffe

  Sydney Children's Hospital

  68 shared

• Yupeng Liu

  Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products

  67 shared

• Joshua S. Gans

  University of Toronto

  64 shared

• RJ Andrews

  58 shared

• Rebecca Henderson

  42 shared

Awards & honors

• 2026 Samuel M. Seegal Faculty Prize
• 2024 Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching
• 2021 Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award

Similar researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Eric Arthur von Hippelh-78
• Michael A. Cusumanoh-56
• Pierre Azoulayh-45