Discussion of Bruce Greenwald and Joseph Stiglitz, “Industrial Policies, the Creation of a Learning Society, and Economic Development”

Abstract

This fascinating paper looks at one of the most important issues in the economics of technological change: the wedge between the social and private returns from innovation. The authors explore the implications of this important gap — often ignored in discussions of industrial policy — for the promotion of firms and technologies.

I thank workshop participants for helpful comments. Research support was provided by Harvard Business School’s Division of Research. This essay was drawn in part from my two books, The Architecture of Innovation (Boston and London: Harvard Business Press and Oxford University Press, 2012), and Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed — and What to Do About It (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009).