Public Money, Private Gain? Rethinking Industrial Policy for Social Returns

As governments increasingly act as strategic investors in innovation, a fundamental question arises: when public risk generates extraordinary private gains, should the state capture a greater share of the upside? This session presents a working paper analyzing some case studies to assess whether public returns matched public risk, and how alternative policy design could better align innovation with redistribution.

Speakers:

John Haigh, Director, M-RCBG, Lecturer in Public Policy

Edoardo Campanella, Research Fellow, M-RCBG

With contributions from Cameron Davis, MPA '26, and Carlo Giannone, MPP '26.

A Harvard ID is required to attend this in-person study group.