Science has never been at the forefront of political economy and usually only appears as an “exogenous shock,” or is suppressed by an assumption within the theory of the firm of a given stock of scientific and/or technological knowledge, from which firms make their choices and then employ them in producing a given volume of output. Nonetheless, some theorists and empiricists have explored (in very broad terms) the role of science and technology in economic growth; the relations between science, technology, the state, and capital; and science and development.