Relation entry, exit and productivity: an overview of recent theoretical and empirical literature

This document provides a review of recent theoretical and empirical literature on the relationship between entry, exit and productivity. Decomposition methods show that entry and exit considerably contribute to productivity growth, but are unable to shed any light on the ultimate sources of productivity growth. However, the theories discussed do provide options for effective policy instruments. We argue that productivity or welfare should be the aim of policy and not the number of entrants, the intensity of competition or the amount of innovation expenditures. Taking a welfare approach, we address market failures with respect to entry. The most eminent market failure is market power of dominant incumbents. Lowering institutional entry barriers economy-wide is a promising policy option for further consideration. Whether such a policy measure actually improves social welfare depends also on the extent of other failures. Therefore, an ex ante cost-benefit analysis needs to precede intervention.

Technology strategy and innovation: the use of derivative strategies in the aerospace industry

Strategy has become an increasingly important theme within the management of innovation. This is reflected in the increasing amount of attention given to topics such as technology strategy within the innovation literature. However research into technology strategy has tended to focus on technology acquisition rather than technology exploitation. This paper focuses on one often neglected way in which companies can exploit the technological resources at their disposal, namely through the use of a derivative strategy where new technology is combined with old products or parts of old products in order to develop new products. The paper explores this type of strategy by means of a case study from the commercial jet engine sector of the aerospace industry. The case study provides an opportunity not only to explore the nature of derivative strategies in detail it also highlights the benefits, both direct and indirect, to be gained from this type of strategy as a means of exploiting an organisation's technological resources. The paper shows how a derivative strategy can contribute to the broader strategic goals of companies in technology based industries through strategies designed to ensure the most effective utilisation of the technology base

Growing a Green Economy for All: From Green Jobs to Green Ownership

This Democracy Collaborative report provides the first comprehensive survey of community wealth building institutions in the green economy. Featuring ten cases, the report identifies how policy and philanthropy can build on these examples to create "green jobs you can own.

Decarbonization in Democracy

Conventional wisdom holds that democracy is structurally ill-equipped to confront climate change. As the story goes, because each of us tends to dismiss consequences that befall people in other places and in future times, “the people” cannot be trusted to craft adequate decarbonization policies, designed to reduce present-day, domestic carbon emissions. Accordingly, U.S. climate change policy has focused on technocratic fixes that operate predominantly through executive action to escape democratic politics — with vanishingly little to show for it after a change in presidential administration.To help craft a more durable U.S. climate change strategy, this Article scrutinizes the purported incompatibility of decarbonization and democratic politics. It argues that well-designed citizen input and control could advance U.S. efforts to address climate change, rather than hinder them. To foster such input and control, the Article contends that decarbonization can be disaggregated into three distinct questions: (1) whether to decarbonize; (2) how fast; and (3) how to decarbonize. Although people’s tendencies to prioritize the present and the local may render them ill-equipped to answer the first two questions, the third question, “how” to decarbonize, is different. That question focuses on the shape we want our economy and communities to take in the decades to come, and is thus amenable to more citizen engagement. The Article then traces how more citizen engagement and empowerment on this question of how to decarbonize could advance decarbonization efforts. Across partisan lines, Americans consistently prioritize clean energy to a degree not reflected in our national climate politics, institutions, or energy mix. These dynamics suggest that reforms that shift decisionmaking authority away from the energy industry, and into the hands of communities and citizens, have the potential to transform the political economy of decarbonization.After making the case for more citizen control of decisions around how to decarbonize, the Article offers two complementary reforms to help achieve this aim, which venture well beyond the standard administrative law solution set. It proposes that states harness the power of public utility law to require utilities to better gauge and respond to their customers’ values, and offer communities more control over their energy supply as a method of counteracting utilities’ economic and political dominance

Decarbonization in Democracy

Conventional wisdom holds that democracy is structurally ill-equipped to confront climate change. As the story goes, because each of us tends to dismiss consequences that befall people in other places and in future times, “the people” cannot be trusted to craft adequate decarbonization policies, designed to reduce present-day, domestic carbon emissions. Accordingly, U.S. climate change policy has focused on technocratic fixes that operate predominantly through executive action to escape democratic politics — with vanishingly little to show for it after a change in presidential administration. To help craft a more durable U.S. climate change strategy, this Article scrutinizes the purported incompatibility of decarbonization and democratic politics. It argues that well-designed citizen input and control could advance U.S. efforts to address climate change, rather than hinder them. To foster such input and control, the Article contends that decarbonization can be disaggregated into three distinct questions: (1) whether to decarbonize; (2) how fast; and (3) how to decarbonize. Although people’s tendencies to prioritize the present and the local may render them ill-equipped to answer the first two questions, the third question, “how” to decarbonize, is different. That question focuses on the shape we want our economy and communities to take in the decades to come, and is thus amenable to more citizen engagement. The Article then traces how more citizen engagement and empowerment on this question of how to decarbonize could advance decarbonization efforts. Across partisan lines, Americans consistently prioritize clean energy to a degree not reflected in our national climate politics, institutions, or energy mix. These dynamics suggest that reforms that shift decisionmaking authority away from the energy industry, and into the hands of communities and citizens, have the potential to transform the political economy of decarbonization. After making the case for more citizen control of decisions around how to decarbonize, the Article offers two complementary reforms to help achieve this aim, which venture well beyond the standard administrative law solution set. It proposes that states harness the power of public utility law to require utilities to better gauge and respond to their customers’ values, and offer communities more control over their energy supply as a method of counteracting utilities’ economic and political dominance

Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey: 2012 Findings and Recommendations

2012 was the warmest year on record in the Lower 48 states and the second most extreme weather year in U.S. history. This is not a coincidence. Extreme weather -- stronger, more damaging storms, unprecedented drought and heat in some regions and unprecedented rainfall and flooding in others -- are the predictable consequences of rising global temperatures.Eleven extreme weather events each caused at least a billion dollars in losses last year in the United States. A single event, Hurricane Sandy, caused more than $50 billion in economic losses. Insurance companies are on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in claims as a result of Sandy and other severe weather events. And American taxpayers are on the hook for tens of billions of dollars themselves, thanks to losses sustained by the National Flood Insurance Program as well as disaster relief spendingThis raises a fundamental question: Is the insurance industry prepared? Have insurers analyzed and measured their climate-related risk? Are they planning for life in a warmer world? These should be essential questions for insurance regulators in all 50 states to be asking, and some are

Community Energy Exit

Communities across the United States are taking advantage of new technologies and governance forms to assert greater control over their energy systems. For decades, energy provision throughout much of the nation was heavily centralized. Even where market-oriented reforms emerged, most consumers had little ability to take advantage of the changes. But resurgent interest in municipal takeover of energy systems, alongside new phenomena such as community choice aggregation and microgrid construction, are making what we call “community energy exit” a reality. Popular and academic commentators have hailed these developments as key steps toward decarbonization, social justice, and energy democracy. This Article raises cautionary notes about the emerging changes. Although they can bring important benefits, community-centered energy systems could also generate systemic inequities. Traditional energy systems, despite all their flaws, also contain mechanisms for sharing the benefits and burdens of energy provision. When communities exit traditional systems, those mechanisms can be undermined or even lost. Inequities may also arise because local governance, despite its many virtues, can build and entrench social inequality. Important pressure on incumbent utilities, in public utility commission proceedings and other fora, also could be lost if communities elect exit over voice. Beyond raising theoretical concerns, this Article explores emerging evidence from actual energy exits. The preliminary story is more nuanced than either the celebratory or critical accounts would suggest, partly because communities, legislators, and administrators in key states have taken concrete steps to avoid some of the inequities we fear. Without adequate legal oversight, however, future expansion could devolve into a form of energy elitism. The Article closes by summarizing and recommending ways to facilitate equity in community energy exits

Mission-oriented research & innovation in the European: a problem-solving approach to fuel innovation-led growth

The European Commission, through Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, invited Professor Mazzucato to draw up strategic recommendations to maximise the impact of the future EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation through mission-oriented policy. This report is the result of Professor Mazzucato’s reflections based on her research, with inputs through a consultation process with internal and external stakeholders of the European Commission