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Learning from Overrated Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies: Seven Takeaways

Author

Listed:
  • Henrekson, Magnus

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Sandström, Christian

    (Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden)

  • Stenkula, Mikael

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

Abstract

This paper integrates findings from several different case studies on Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies (MOIPs) and makes use of existing literature to briefly describe three other missions: The War on Cancer, homeownership in the United States, and the Swedish Million Program. Together with the analyses in the contributions in the volume Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Questioning the Mission Economy, seven takeaways regarding mission-oriented innovation policies are developed and described: 1) wicked problems cannot be solved through missions, 2) politicians and government agencies are not exempt from self-interest, 3) MOIPs are subject to rent-seeking and mission capture, 4) policymakers lack information to design MOIPs, 5) MOIPs distort competition, 6) government support programs distort incentives and result in moral hazard, and 7) MOIPs ignore opportunity costs. These seven takeaways are illustrated using the cases described in this essay and in other contributions in the above-mentioned volume.

Suggested Citation

  • Henrekson, Magnus & Sandström, Christian & Stenkula, Mikael, 2023. "Learning from Overrated Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies: Seven Takeaways," Working Paper Series 1478, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1478
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A Toolkit of Policies to Promote Innovation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 163-184, Summer.
    2. Shawn Kantor & Alexander Whalley, 2025. "Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(9), pages 2891-2925, September.
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    5. Foray, D. & Mowery, D.C. & Nelson, R.R., 2012. "Public R&D and social challenges: What lessons from mission R&D programs?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1697-1702.
    6. Richard R Nelson, 2011. "The Moon and the Ghetto revisited," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(9), pages 681-690, November.
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    8. Jeff Muldoon & Derek K. Yonai, 2023. "A wrong but seductive idea: Public choice and the entrepreneurial state," Journal of the International Council for Small Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 351-361, October.
    9. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A toolkit of policies to promote innovation," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 10.
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    Cited by:

    1. Schou, Peter Kalum, 2024. "Unpacking the myth of the entrepreneurial state," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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