Broadening the Concept of Value in Science and Technology Innovation Policy: Reconsidering Cooperative Research and Development Agreements as an Expression of Public Value Governance.

This article examines Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), formal partnerships between U.S. federal agencies and non-governmental entities designed to support technological innovation and technology transfer, through the lens of Public Value Governance (PVG). Traditionally studied within the New Public Management (NPM) framework emphasizing economic efficiency and market mechanisms, CRADAs are reconsidered here for their potential to address broader socio-political complexities and normative pluralism highlighted by PVG. Analysis of qualitative data from U.S. Air Force (USAF) CRADA participants and agency handbooks reveals that while CRADAs primarily reflect economic and competitive objectives consistent with NPM, they also embody relational and collaborative features aligned with PVG's plural-state dimension, such as ongoing partnerships and capacity-building across organizations. However, evidence of normative pluralism—values like inclusivity, equity, transparency, and public participation associated with PVG's pluralist-state dimension—is limited in CRADA operations and participant perceptions, though some USAF initiatives suggest emerging attention to diversity and accessibility. The study concludes that CRADAs possess structural flexibility that could allow integration of broader public values and recommends further research to explore how CRADAs and related technology transfer mechanisms might be augmented to better respond to complex socio-technical and normative environments.