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Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) Working Paper Series: IIPP WP 2019-09

This working paper was also published as a journal article in .

Authors:

• Andrea Laplane | Honorary Research Fellow, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Mariana Mazzucato | Director, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose 

Working paper reference

Laplane, A. and Mazzucato, M. (2019). Socialising the risks and rewards of public investments: Economic, policy and legal issues. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Working Paper Series (IIPP WP 2019-09). Available at: /bartlett/public-purpose/wp2019- 09

Abstract

This paper develops a framework for analysing the role of public agencies in making high- risk investments along the innovation chain, and asks how both the risks of innovation and the rewards can be shared between public and private actors. We build on a new approach to innovation policy, which we call market co-creating and shaping, in which the state is not only fixing markets but actively co-creating them. We also look at the legal institutions that determine (and are determined by) the relationship between public and private actors. Policy measures to institutionalise rewards in a way that promotes more equitable public-private partnerships can be understood as attempts to mediate asymmetric power relations, tensions and conflicting views among multiple stakeholders, as well as building a shared notion of the value and legitimacy of the role of the state. We conclude by outlining analytical and policy implications and identifying avenues for future research.