“Mariana... asks fundamental questions about how ‘value’ has been defined, and who gets to measure it.”
Forbes
Research | Themes
Mariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London where she is the founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). The research of the institute is focused on rethinking the state, and its interactions with other value creators, so to foster economic growth that is more inclusive and sustainable. IIPP’s key research areas are around Rethinking Value, Transforming Institutions, Shaping Innovation, and Directing Finance. Professor Mazzucato works across all these areas.
One of the key questions that guides Professor Mazzucato’s research is: how can governments stimulate and direct innovation-led, inclusive, and sustainable growth? Her approach is underpinned by the concept of collective value creation, which sees all economic stakeholders as value creators, who should therefore share in that value equitably. To stimulate, direct, and govern growth in a more equitable way, while tackling the biggest problems of our time, Professor Mazzucato advocates for a mission-oriented approach to economic policy. Such an approach requires a new form of patient finance that mobilises public and private sector funding in a long- term and outcomes-oriented way. What is more, though much of her research focuses on the state, she is equally interested in purpose-driven corporate governance and finding new ways for the public and private sectors to work together around important challenges. Professor Mazzucato is dedicating time to developing a new approach to the common good as a mechanism to govern the collaboration between value creators in new ways.
Professor Mazzucato publishes regularly in academic journals, as well as policy papers aimed at policymakers worldwide, and early stage research in the form of working papers. She is also the author of the bestselling books ‘The Entrepreneurial State: debunking public vs private sector myths‘ and ‘The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economy’, and her new book ‘Mission Economy: a moonshot guide to changing capitalism’ is out now. Her news articles and blogs can be found on the Media page.
Projects
Professor Mazzucato’s current work is funded by different international grants from national research councils, the European commission, philanthropies and the private sector. Her current (live) projects include the following:
- Digital Rents and Competition Policy
This project is funded by the Omidyar Network and the Rockefeller Foundation. It looks at how modern economic rents are extracted in digital platforms. It seeks to inform innovation and competition policy to foster value creation not value extraction. Read more about Mariana’s work on digital platforms here. - Shaping markets: the Mission-Oriented Innovation Network
This project is funded by the William And Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. It brings together global public organisations to look at the challenges and opportunities of stepping outside the box of fixing markets, into the more proactive areas of shaping markets. Read about MOIN here. - Green Innovation and Sustainable Growth
This project is funded by Climate KIC (European Institute of Technology), The Climate Works Foundation, and the Smart Prosperity Institute. It looks at the sources of finance for green growth, and how policy can be used to help direct private and public investment. Read more about Mariana’s work on green growth here. - Public Value in Space
This project is currently funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), and builds on work done with NASA in 2016. It seeks to understand how public value can be created in space, directed by ‘mission oriented’ state agencies while fostering innovation in the private sector. Read more about Mariana’s work on the space sector here. - Growth Dynamics in the European Union
This work is funded by various European Commission, Horizon 2020 projects: Inclusive Futures For Europe BEYOND The Impacts Of Industrie 4.0 And Digital Disruption (BEYOND 4.0); and Growth, Welfare, Innovation, Productivity (GROWINPro). - Public Value and the Economics of Innovation in the Bio-Pharma sector
This project is funded by the Open Society Foundations. It looks at how finance, innovation and policy interact in the health sector. It focuses specifically on how these relationships can be shaped to deliver innovation in the public interest. Read more about Mariana’s work on health here. - Finance, Innovation and Growth
This project began as a Seventh Framework European Commission grant (FINNOV 2009-2012) and is now funded by multiple sources, including some of the projects above. It studies the co-evolution of the sources of finance, industry dynamics, and innovation in sectors like computers, renewable energy, space, and health. Read the publications from the FINNOV project.