Matthew R. Keller

My research revolves around innovation, institutional change and the role of government. The main strand of my work concerns the organization of innovation systems and innovation policy. Recent works have explored the government's role in the U.S. innovation system; innovation and industrial policies in an era of "networked" production; green energy policy and innovation; and institutional change in national innovation systems. A second strand of work explores historical patterns in government responses to episodes of mass violence, focusing on the questions of how democratic governments explain violent outbreaks, and how they justify police or military violence when it is used to quell political protests and social movements.

Research and Teaching Interests

• Economic sociology
• Political economy
• Organizations and institutions
• Technological innovation
• Historical and comparative sociology

Selected Publications

• Fred Block, Matthew R. Keller, and Marian Negoita. 2023 (online first). "Revisiting the Hidden Developmental State" Politics & Society
• Matthew R. Keller, Fred Block and Marian Negoita. 2022. "What Makes a Developmental Network State Durable?" Sociology Compass
• Matthew MC Allen, Geoffrey T. Wood, Matthew R. Keller. 2022 "State Capitalism: Means and Dimensions." in the Oxford Handbook of State Capitalism and the Firm
• Fred Block, Matthew R. Keller, and Marian Negoita. 2020. "Network Failures and the Evolution of the U.S. Innovation System." Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade.
• Keller, Matthew R., Fred Block and Marian Negoita. 2017. “How does Innovation Work within the Developmental Network State? New Data on Public-Private Agreements in a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory.”
  
• Matthew R. Keller and Fred Block. 2015. “Do as I Say, or As I Do? U.S. Innovation and Industrial Policy since the 1980s.” In Development and Modern Industrial Policy in Practice.
• Matthew R. Keller. 2014. "When is the State's Gaze Focused? British Royal Commissions and the Bureaucratization of Conflict." Journal of Historical Sociology
• Fred Block and Matthew R. Keller. 2014. “Can the U.S. Sustain its Global Position? Dynamism and Stagnation in the U.S. Institutional Model.” Political Power and Social Theory
• Matthew R. Keller and Fred Block. 2013. "Explaining the Transformation of the U.S. Innovation System: the Role of a Small Government Program." Socio-Economic Review
• Matthew R. Keller and Marian Negoita. 2013. "Correcting Network Failures: The Evolution of U.S. Innovation Policy in the Wind and Advanced Battery Industries." Competition & Change
• State of Innovation: The U.S. Government's Role in Technology Development (2011)
• Matthew R. Keller. 2011. "The CIA's Pioneering Role in Public Venture Capital Initiatives." In State of Innovation: The U.S. Government's Role in Technology Development
• Matthew R. Keller. 2009. "Commissioning Legitimacy: The Global Logics of National Violence Commissions in the 20th Century" Politics & Society
• Fred Block and Matthew R. Keller. 2009. "Where do Innovations Come From? Changes in the U.S. Economy, 1970-2006" Socio-Economic Review

Grants, Awards and Affiliations

• Co-organizer, Network on Knowledge, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (KITE) for the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics
• HOPE Award (Honoring Our Professors of Excellence), SMU, 2015
• Economic Stimulus and Innovation Capacity at the Department of Energy. NSF Science of Science and Innovation Policy Program (SciSIP) (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Best Paper in Socio-Economic Review, 2009, "Where do Innovations Come From? Changes in the U.S. Economy, 1970-2006"