This open access book raises some central questions: Do we need moonshot policies to spur innovation and economic growth? What are the risks associated with such policies?

Economic turbulence, the COVID-19 pandemic, and mounting environmental concerns have paved the way for a renaissance of targeted industrial policy. In particular, the idea that society should be organized around large missions is gaining momentum among high-income economies. However, the authors and editors of this volume contend that this shift has occurred without much critical examination, especially as the European Union has adopted these ideas, and Western economies are now increasingly organizing toward the achievement of large, state-formulated goals.

Recognizing the urgent need for continued scholarly attention to question notions of the mission economy, more than 20 scholars discuss the dangers of top-down/vertical approaches to industrial policy and draw attention to the progress of independent enterprise, entrepreneurialism, and market solutions in a sound economy and society. By critically examining mission-oriented innovation policies, using theoretical perspectives and empirical investigations, the book highlights both the mechanisms behind failed missions and alternative approaches. This is a must-read for policy researchers and policymakers alike.

This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access Provides a systematic critique of mission-oriented innovation policies Discusses the dangers of top-down or vertical approaches to industrial policy Examines research on the misguided efforts to stimulate innovation and renewal

Autorentext

Magnus Henrekson is a professor of Economics and Senior Research Fellow at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the president of IFN for 15 years until 2020. He previously held the Jacob Wallenberg Research Chair in the Department of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. His primary research focus is entrepreneurship economics and the institutional determinants of the business climate. In addition to his academic qualifications, he has extensive experience as an advisor, board member, and lecturer in many different contexts, both in the business sector and the public sector.

Christian Sandström is a senior associate professor at Jönköping International Business School and the Ratio Institute in Sweden. His research concerns industrial transformation and the role of innovation policy. Sandström is a coeditor of the popular Open Access book "Questioning the Entrepreneurial State" (Springer, 2022). He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge and ETH Zürich. Dr. Sandström has received several awards for his teaching at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

Mikael Stenkula is an associate professor at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) in Sweden. His research focus is on entrepreneurship, business structures, and taxation. He has coauthored a textbook on entrepreneurship economics with Professor Magnus Henrekson and has published research about institutional reforms for European innovation and entrepreneurship.

Inhalt

Part 1: Introductory Chapter: 1. Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Questioning the Mission Economy.- Part 2: Theoretical Perspectives.- 2. State and Markets: Not Whether But How.- 3. Engineering Is Not Entrepreneurship.- 4. A Behavioral Economics Perspective on the Entrepreneurial State and Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy.- 5. Innovationism and the New Public Intellectuals.- Part III: Empirical Evidence.- 6. Analyzing the Effectiveness of State-Guided Innovation.- 7. A Case Study on DARPA: An Exemplar for Government Strategic Structuring to Foster Innovation?.- 8. The State of the Entrepreneurial State: Empirical Evidence of Mission-Led Innovation Projects around the Globe.- 9. When What Works Does Not Work: The United States' Mission to End Homelessness.- 10. The Cost of Missions: The Case of Shipbuilding in Brazil.- 11. You Can't Develop What You Don't Know: The Realities and Limitations of Foreign Aid Missions.- 12. A Public Choice Perspective on Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies and the Behavior of Government Agencies.- 13. Learning from Overrated Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies: Seven Takeaways.- Part IV: Alternative Paths.- 14. The Entrepreneurial State Cannot Deliver without an Entrepreneurial Society.- 15. How Thinking Carefully About Evolution and Morality Can Overcome the Siren Song of Central Planning.- 16. R&D Tax Incentives as an Alternative to Targeted R&D Subsidies.- 17. Bottom-Up Policies Trump Top-Down Missions.