As you note, there have been different norms in different institutions, and if you're a used to working for for-profit entities, I'm sure the norms you're used

As you note, there have been different norms in different institutions, and if you're a used to working for for-profit entities, I'm sure the norms you're used to seem, well, normal. But sure, there's no harm in thought experiments. And we have a lot of different behaviors over time to look at from a range of institutions. You might start asking what changes when incentives are restructured to encourage short-term profit over discovery, and how that might change teaching and research universities. For starters, an easy one: if revenue production becomes the primary measure of the value of a field, how does historical research pay its way while avoiding capture by particular interests? Also, if you want to _really_ be daring, ask questions about what might happen if employees weren't forced by default into work-for-hire arrangements. What if corps were a bit more like academia?