Research

Research of the section Economics of Technology and Innovation is organized along two drivers:

• Governance
• Entrepreneurship

Governance is a mechanism along which responsible technological change can be achieved. An important element is institutional design with roots in the work of Economics Nobel Prize winner Elenaor Ostrom. For example, design of self-governance mechanisms in energy and health systems becomes is facilitated by the use of ICT. Also public entrepreneurship is a useful way to redesign policies and government institutions in order to make them better equipped to influence responsible technological change. Governance is a broad phenomenon that deserves a multi-disciplinary approach borrowing from standard economics such as the structure conduct performance and the transaction-cost approach, to a political and policy approach such as polycentrism.

Entrepreneurship is an important force to achieve responsible innovation. This is investigated in terms of different organizational, technological and geographical contexts:

• How can entrepreneurship be conducive in achieving responsible innovation in different organizational contexts such as start-ups and existing companies (private sector), government and universities (public sector)?
• How can responsible innovation be achieved through entrepreneurship in different technological contexts such as creative industries, basic science or engineering?
• What does technology and thus also entrepreneurship mean for responsible innovation in different geographical contexts, i.e. developed countries, transition countries, developing countries?
• How do we translate findings regarding these questions into the teaching of entrepreneurship at universities of technology in general and at TU Delft in particular?