Governing the economics of the common good

Authored by Professor Mariana Mazzucato

Download working paper

UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) Working Paper Series: IIPP WP 2023-08.

Governing the economics of the common good: from correcting market failures to shaping collective goals

Authors:

• Mariana Mazzucato | Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value | University College London, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)

A final version of this paper has been published in the Journal of Economic Policy Reform. It can be referenced as follows:

Mazzucato, M. (2023). Governing the economics of the common good: from correcting market failures to shaping collective goals. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, DOI: 10.1080/17487870.2023.2280969.

Abstract:

To meet today’s grand challenges, economics requires an understanding of how common objectives may be collaboratively set and met. Tied to the assumption that the state can, at best, fix market failures and is always at risk of ‘capture’, economic theory has been unable to offer such a framework. To move beyond such limiting assumptions, the paper provides a renewed conception of the common good, going beyond the classic public good and commons approach, as a way of steering and shaping (rather than just fixing) the economy towards collective goals.

A previous version of this paper, published in January 2022 can be dowloaded here. A Spanish translation of this version is available here.