Module 1.2  Government and Innovation

(Development in progress)

Introduction

There is a widespread belief that the private sector is agile and innovative and governments are bloated and inefficient. There may be some truth to both perceptions in some cases, but they may also be misleading in many situations.  Full disclosure: I am a public servant (and you probably are, too), so I’m inclined to be sceptical about enthusiasm for private sector solutions and market dominance.  Do markets produce better results than government plans? The theme of the two lectures is that government planning and support are essential to innovation, and that markets and profit motives may work well for some at the expense of the public interest. 

Learning objectives

• • Analyze social aspects of engineering activities: innovation, development, national policies
• • Evaluate the connected roles of the public and private sectors in driving technological innovation
• • Understand engineering interactions with the economy
• • Apply the concept of policy development
• • Apply the concept of evidence-based policy
• • Explain the link between policy and politics

Required reading (372)

• • Mazzucato (2014) Introduction
• • Weiss (2014) Ch. 9, Hybrid State, Hybrid Capitalism, Great Power Turning Point
• • Government of Canada (2019) Doing Business with the Government of Canada 

Other links and references (374)

The seminar will focus on Canadian innovation policy, particularly the portrayal by Smardon and the current government websites describing innovation support.

• • Smardon (2014) Introduction
• • Helleiner (1994) Introduction. 

Presentations

Lecture 1 Markets and Planning

Industrialization and trade rivalry in Europe were driven by the needs of the early modern state for  ships, guns, uniforms, and printed paper. States created concentrated demand which set the conditions for the first large commercial companies as partners of government (Sen, 1983). Mazzucato (2014) describes the role of states in pushing innovation.  Weiss (2014) describes the partnership of American government and private industry which produced the sustained growth of technology in the 20th century.  To compare the sociology of business innovation, we’ll take a quick detour back to early 20th century and the acerbic observations of an odd Norwegian American, Thorstein Veblen about the nature of business, and we’ll add a footnote about the role of governments in financial innovation (Helleiner, 1994).  

• • Link to the slides 

Lecture 2 Canada’s Innovation Strategy

How do we measure innovation?  Looking at patents is one way. We’ll start with some data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  Then, drawing on Smardon (2014) this lecture summarizes Canada’s current innovation strategy and how it evolved.  It contrasts the position of Canada’s branch-plant economy with the role of the American government in sponsoring innovation through defence expenditure, which is subsidized not only by foreign arms sales, but by the privileged position of the US dollar as an international exchange currency. 

• • Link to the slides

Seminar - Innovation in Canada

How effective has Canada’s innovation strategy been? How effective can it be, given the integration of the North American economy?  Should Canada consider the Finland model, trying to keep large neighbours at arms length?