Events Detail

Gustavo Manso, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – February 14, 2008

Why Short-Term Failure Could be a Sign of Long-Term Success: Motivating Innovation through Policy Incentives

The paper studies incentives for innovation. It shows that the optimal incentive scheme that motivates innovation exhibits substantial tolerance (or even reward) for early failure and reward for long-term success. The institution of tenure, debtor-friendly bankruptcy laws, and golden parachutes are some examples of schemes that protect the agent when failure occurs and thereby encourage innovation.

Amar Bhidé, Columbia University - March 6, 2008

The Role of Immigrants in U.S. High Tech Enterprise

High-tech ventures often rely more heavily on skilled immigrant employment than other firms within the economy. In this chapter from his book “Prospering Together: The Globalization of Innovation”, Amar Bhidé, of Columbia University, investigates the nature of labor demand for such companies in order to determine what, if anything, leads to this anomaly. He also investigates what factors may affect the likelihood of a venture-backed firm to off-shore or market globally.

Erik Stam, University of Cambridge – April 15, 2008

Do the Fastest-Growing Firms Encourage the Most Economic Growth? The Impact of High-Growth Firms on the Economy

Do new firms in general, or especially high-growth new firms stimulate economic growth? The key argument in this paper is that new firms that are led by ambitious entrepreneurs and/or reveal substantial growth are a more important impetus to innovation and competition and in the end economic growth than new firms in general. Policy implications are also discussed.

The Honorable Mark Lagon, U.S. Department of State – July 10, 2008

The Profits of Pimping: Abolishing Sex Trafficking in the United States

With last month’s release of the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons report, we have gained valuable information about sex trafficking abroad. This conference focuses on sex trafficking in the United States. What is the extent of the problem, and what are some solutions?