Abstract

This monograph describes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs as implemented at the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The programs’ evolution is traced through the public solicitations over the last twenty-five years, and a descriptive analysis is presented. Proposal-level data, including declines, are used to illuminate the selection process, including the roles of firm size, technology maturity and gender. Subsequent patent rates are explored. Finally, two distinct real options approaches - one computational, the other analytical - consider the optimality of the current programmatic structure.