The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) subsidizes the R&D expenditure of large single firms at a maximum rate of 40%. The theoretical analysis herein of a monopoly innovator suggests that this subsidy rate is about socially optimal...

Suppose a firm faces a “timing problem” in its capacity decision: it must acquire capacity, a strict upper bound on production, and set its price before quantity demanded for its product is known. The paper shows that the uncertainty capacity is greater than the certainty capacity when the...