This research project is led by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (UCL IIPP).
Explore all IIPP research projects here.
Dates of the project: 2017
The Challenge
Technological revolutions have shaped economies and societies for centuries, but their benefits haven’t always been evenly distributed. Periods of innovation often lead to bubbles, crashes, and inequality. Today, as we face new waves of innovation – from digital to green technologies there’s a pressing need to understand how public policy can steer these changes toward inclusive and sustainable growth.
Our Approach
This research builds on the work of IIPP’s Honorary Professor Carlota Perez and Prof. Mariana Mazzucato to explore the active role of the state in innovation. It examines how governments have historically invested in and shaped markets during key turning points, and how they can do so again. By analysing past and present examples – from the Industrial Revolution to the digital age we investigate how public, private, and third-sector actors collaborate across the innovation chain, and how risk and reward are shared.
Why This Matters
Understanding the state's role in innovation is crucial for designing policies that foster long-term, inclusive growth. By learning from past revolutions, we can better navigate today’s challenges like climate change, inequality, and economic instability and unlock the potential for ‘smart green growth’. This research helps policymakers move beyond market-fixing to market-shaping, embracing bold missions that can transform industries and improve lives globally.
Resources
Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy: Challenges and Opportunities
Mazzucato, M. (2017). ‘Mission-oriented Innovation Policy: Challenges and Opportunities’, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose Working Paper, (2017-01).
Read the working paper
Thinking About Technology Policy: ‘Market Failures’ versus ‘Innovation systems’
Nelson, R. (2017). Thinking About Technology Policy: ‘Market Failures’ versus ‘Innovation systems’. UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Working Paper Series (IIPP WP 2017-02).
Read the working paper
Innovation as Growth Policy: The Challenge For Europe
Mariana Mazzucato and Carlota Perez (2014), “Innovation as Growth Policy: The Challenge For Europe”, SPRU working papers, 2014-13.
Read the working paper
Financing innovation: creative destruction vs. destructive creation
Mariana Mazzucato (2013), “Financing innovation: creative destruction vs. destructive creation,” in special issue of Industrial and Corporate Change, M. Mazzucato (ed.), 22(4): 851-867.
Read the article
Financial bubbles, crises and the role of government in unleashing golden ages
Carlota Perez (2013) "Financial bubbles, crises and the role of government in unleashing golden ages" in Pyka, A. and Burghof, H.P. (eds.) (2013) Innovation and Finance. London: Routledge, Ch.2, pp. 11-25.
Read the book chapter
Financial bubbles, crises and the role of government in unleashing golden ages
FINNOV Working Paper DP 2.12 (2012).
Read the working paper
Technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms
Carlota Perez (2010) “Technological Revolutions and Techno-economic paradigms" in Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 34, No.1, pp. 185-202.
Read the article
The double bubble at the turn of the century: technological roots and structural implications
Carlota Perez (2009). “The double bubble at the turn of the century: technological roots and structural implications”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 779-805 ISBN 0-86187-949-X.
Read the article
The Entrepreneurial StateDebunking public vs. private sector myths
By Mariana Mazzucato
Read about the book
The Innovative State: Governments Should Make Markets, Not Just Fix Them
Foreign Affairs
Mariana Mazzucato
Read the article
This research project is led by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (UCL IIPP).
Explore all IIPP research projects here.
Contact
Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London and Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Click to email. iipp-dir-comms@ucl.ac.uk