Professor Keith Pavitt

Pioneer in science policy research

Keith Pavitt, scholar of science policy: born London 13 January 1937; Professor of Science and Technology Policy, Sussex University 1984-2002; married 1964 Michelle Rouffignac (one son, one daughter); died Lewes, East Sussex 20 December 2002.

Keith Pavitt was one of the world's leading figures in science policy research – covering such issues as the allocation of resources to science and technology, the nature of the innovation process, how advances in science and technology are translated into economic and social benefits, and the management of research and development (R&D) in the individual firm.

In all these areas, Pavitt made fundamental contributions. He was prominent in many of the great debates that have characterised the field over recent decades. He inspired several generations of postgraduate students from round the world. In addition, he was the key figure in establishing Research Policy as the main journal in the field.

The son of a seamstress and a print worker, Pavitt was born in 1937 and grew up in Hackney, London, much of his childhood being spent in bomb shelters. He was an accomplished pupil of Hackney Downs School, winning an open scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. During National Service, he qualified as an RAF pilot. At Cambridge, he obtained a First in Engineering in 1959 and was Senior Scholar at Trinity.

By then, his intellectual interests had begun to broaden. After a further year at Cambridge studying industrial management, he won a fellowship in economics and public policy at Harvard University in 1960-61. He then joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. In the early 1960s, this was carrying out pioneering policy research, in particular on the development of policies for science, engineering and innovation. He joined a small team that was responsible for putting such policies on the agenda for governments.

During this time he started a lifelong collaboration with Chris Freeman, a British economist who was developing some of the first international statistics on research and development. One fruit of it was the publication of the OECD report Government and Technical Innovation in 1966. This was influential in getting economists and policy makers to recognise the importance of technical change in economic growth.

After a year at Princeton University, Pavitt moved to Sussex University in 1971. There he rejoined Freeman who, a few years earlier, had become the first Director of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU). In 1984, Pavitt succeeded Freeman as the Reginald Phillips Professor of Science and Technology Policy, the post he held until his formal retirement in 2002.

For 30 years Pavitt was at the forefront of SPRU research, making pioneering contributions in several areas. His principal objective was to analyse and explain differences among firms, industrial sectors and countries in the rate and direction of scientific and technological development. He believed that the starting point for this was to generate better data (or "indicators") on science, technology and innovation.

Among the numerous SPRU projects which Pavitt participated in or led were the development of a comprehensive data-bank on British innovations, an influential critique of the "Limits to Growth" thesis, and incisive analyses of the sources of economic growth, of the role of technology in international trade competition, and of the management of innovation within the firm. In all these, he collaborated with colleagues at home and abroad, including Luc Soete from Belgium, Giovanni Dosi in Italy and Richard Nelson in the United States.

In the literature on innovation, Pavitt's 1984 paper on the taxonomy of innovating firms has become a classic, drawn upon by scholars and policy analysts around the world. Other papers with Pari Patel analysed the technological activities of countries and firms using patent statistics. They demonstrated that technology is not apparently subject to the same process of globalisation as other functions in large firms. They also identified the importance of "multi-technology" firms and products. His most recent work focused on the co-evolution of technologies, products and organisation in the business firm.

Pavitt thrived on debate. He argued with all his colleagues, but they invariably came away having enjoyed the argument and feeling that they had learnt something from it. He also loved to challenge conventional wisdom. This combination of active debate and passionate engagement spilled over into his relationship with graduate students. He was an inspiring supervisor to 50 doctoral students, many of whom now occupy senior positions in academia and government in Britain and abroad.

In all matters, Pavitt was international in outlook. A fluent French speaker, he held visiting appointments at universities in France and elsewhere in Europe and North America. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University Complutense of Madrid and other similar awards were in the pipeline. He was in demand as a speaker at international conferences, where he could be guaranteed to enliven proceedings. With his many friends, he loved to discuss not only work but also culture, sport (he was an ardent Arsenal fan and a keen tennis player), wine and food.

It was while working at the OECD that he met his French wife, Michelle, whom he married in 1964 and to whom he was devoted. Although they lived for 30 years in Sussex, France was his second home.

A few months ago, he reached the official university retirement age. However, he continued to carry out research, to teach and to make overseas visits with the same energy as ever.

One of his favourite quotations was that without science and technology, "the life of man [would be] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Here was someone who, through his humanity, enthusiasm, wit and generosity, did all that he could to ensure that we should not suffer this fate.

Chris Freeman Pari Patel and Ben Martin