The university historically pioneered research and training collaborations between academia, industry and government.[243][244] In 1946, President Compton, Harvard Business School professor Georges Doriot, and Massachusetts Investor Trust chairman Merrill Grisswold founded American Research and Development Corporation, the first American venture-capital firm.[245][246] In 1948, Compton established the MIT Industrial Liaison Program.[247] Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, American politicians and business leaders accused MIT and other universities of contributing to a declining economy by transferring taxpayer-funded research and technology to international – especially Japanese – firms that were competing with struggling American businesses.[248][249] On the other hand, MIT's extensive collaboration with the federal government on research projects has led to several MIT leaders serving as presidential scientific advisers since 1940.[d] MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue effective lobbying for research funding and national science policy.[251][252]
The US Justice Department began an investigation in 1989, and in 1991 filed an antitrust suit against MIT, the eight Ivy League colleges, and eleven other institutions for allegedly engaging in price-fixing during their annual "Overlap Meetings", which were held to prevent bidding wars over promising prospective students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships.[253][254] While the Ivy League institutions settled,[255] MIT contested the charges, arguing that the practice was not anti-competitive because it ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.[256][257] MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department dropped the case in 1994.[258][259]