Research and Development in Industrial Corporations: Can Advanceed Societies Learn to Contain Pollution?

Abstract

The development and distribution of knowledge has long been of interest to policymakers and social scientists. Because of the power of industrial corporations and the influence they have over the general research and development process, societies have the knowledge to deal with problems that coincide with corporate goals but have difficulty handling problems where solutions are, in the short run, contradictory to the uninterrupted pursuit of economic goals. A good example is societal ability to deal with waste or pollution. Two processes are important: (1) the process by which resources are allocated to research at the corporate and societal level and (2) the management of the expert role by the organizations.