The importance of the economics of science is substantially due to the importance of science as a driver of technology, and technology as a driver of productivity and growth. Believing that science matters, economists have attempted to understand the behaviour of scientists and the operation of scientific institutions. One goal is to see how far science can be understood as a market, and how far the market for science and scientists can be understood as efficient. When inefficiency is found, a related goal is to propose changes in resource levels or incentives, to increase the speed of scientific advance.