IRG 2 is engaged in comparative study of national policies aimed at promoting nanotechnology research, development and commercialization. The group examines how different industrial policies, in combination with international cooperation and collaboration among researchers, shape distinctive nanoscience and industry outcomes. Countries studied include the U.S., Mexico, China, Japan, and Korea, with newer studies focusing on other Latin American countries and East and South Asia.Field research and interviews are combined with an analysis of patent and publication data, drawn from a Globonano database consisting of more than 400,000 nano-related publications, patent data for over 80 countries, and an inventory of nano-related products.  IRG 2 is also concerned with workplace health and safety issues. The MacArthur Chair awarded in 2010 to IRG 2 leader Appelbaum enhances CNS’ focus on jobs, job creation, and workplace safety issues in the Pacific Rim.

IRG 2 researchers also collaborate with researchers from the other two IRGs: with IRG 1 to examine industrial policies and their effects on nano development in East Asia, and with IRG 3 on the nanotech workforce.

Methodologies used by IRG 2 researchers include field research, bibliometric analysis, patent analysis, and examination of language documents and websites.

In addition to their publications, IRG 2 researchers have given more than two dozen talks at professional meetings and conferences in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, and Germany; organized a panel at the 2007 AAAS meetings; and organized conferences on Nanotechnology Occupational Safety and Health in Laboratories and Workplaces at UCSB in 2007, and on Emerging Technologies/Emerging Economies: [Nano]Technology for Equitable Development in Washington D.C. in 2009.  Appelbaum has also testified about his research as an expert witness before the U.S.-China Economic Security Commission in Washington, D.C. in 2009, and was a lead presenter on Nanotech in China at the Woodrow Wilson Institute in Feb 2007.