A nation’s industrial strategy consists of state interventions to support specific industries that are deemed strategically important. Such policies can help to correct externalities and coordination failures as well as provide key public goods. One example is the investment made by the Department of Defense’s research and development organization, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in the experimental computer network ARPANET – the precursor to the internet – in the late 1960s. The undertaking was too costly, risky, and uncertain for any private sector actor to undertake. But once in place, companies joined in and the internet as we know it is the result. The theoretical and empirical economics literature on industrial strategy is still underdeveloped, not least because the Washington Consensus that emerged during the 1980s favored free-market policies and limited government interference as drivers of economic growth. Times have changed, however, with recent geopolitical challenges pushing industrial strategy back into the foreground of economic policy discussions worldwide. A growing body of empirical research suggests that well-designed industrial strategy can effectively drive economic growth, while ongoing studies explore why particular types of policies function better in some settings than others and how industrial strategy has changed over time. At the field’s forefront are early-career scholars Reka Juhasz (University of British Columbia) and Nathan Lane (University of Oxford).  Together, they founded the Industrial Policy Group (IPG), an international empirical economics lab devoted to this topic.  The IPG uses large-language models to classify policies in ways that enable cross-country comparison and rigorous econometric analysis. They plan to publish their comprehensive, granular, and standardized dataset and demonstrate its usefulness in proof-of-concept research on how industrial policies are used around the world. They will also complete at least four other projects, including a descriptive paper on the political economy of industrial strategy; a methods paper on measuring industrial policies from news text; and two evaluation papers on the efficacy of industrial strategy in East Asia after World War II and globally after the year 2000.  The PIs’ demonstrated commitment to fostering a highly diverse, inclusive, and collaborative culture will also ensure that a growing number of graduate students will receive high-quality mentorship, training, and co-authorship through their involvement in these projects.

J-PAL North America (J-PAL NA), established in 2013 with Sloan support, is a regional branch of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a global network of scholars who employ randomized control trials (RCTs) to evaluate policy interventions. In the decade since its founding, J-PAL NA has tested hundreds of interventions to improve the lives of low-income Americans and make government work better for all. Researchers associated with J-PAL NA have, for example, used RCTs to investigate the causes and consequences of discrimination, revealing potential levers for reducing racial disparities in settings such as healthcare delivery, education, and the criminal justice system. More such work is needed, though, as federal, state, and local governments are demanding rigorous evidence on how to increase racial equity through their programs, services, and budgetary decisions. J-PAL NA proposes to expand its infrastructure to support more RCTs on racial equity under the guidance of its newly appointed Racial Equity Advisory Committee. In addition to helping revise the organization’s project selection criteria and develop new resources to empower researchers with early-stage projects to apply for support, the Committee will publish a cross-disciplinary literature review that identifies theoretically grounded interventions in need of rigorous testing.  Examples include RCTs that explore the drivers of and solutions to structural racism as well as RCTs that examine ways to inspire behaviors that improve racial equity among groups holding power. Concurrently, J-PAL NA will launch its first targeted initiative for RCTs on racial equity, disseminating the call for proposals broadly and purposefully to increase the diversity of applicants.  It will publish guidance on new application requirements – for example, providing overviews of stratification economics and theories of race and discrimination.  They will also offer researchers skills-building sessions on proposal writing and on the practicalities of running a rigorous field test.

Due to global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, the United States is once again adopting explicit industrial strategies.  This follows a long period where free-market policies were primarily favored instead. With the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Commerce Department, and other federal agencies are receiving billions of dollars to support the nation’s competitiveness in critical industry sectors and seeking academic expertise to help them spend it wisely. Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) was launched in 2000 by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. It is a global network of economists, political scientists, and research centers whose mission is to produce high-quality research and translate it into practical guidance for policymakers.  The IPD now has specific plans to establish a high-profile program for novel research on industrial strategy. One prominent IPD expert is Co-PI Eric Verhoogen, who is evaluating the impacts of different types of industrial strategy – to incentivize product innovation; to increase exports; to improve the allocation of government grants for startups; and to encourage the adoption of energy efficient technologies – through ongoing large-scale experiments . Another is Co-PI Martin Guzman, the former Minister of Economy in Argentina, who serves as IPD Co-President alongside Stiglitz.  Together, Stiglitz, Verhoogen, and Guzman will run an academic program to answer foundational questions about why, when, and how to use industrial strategy. Other major grant activities include two international conferences as well as training new experts in this previously neglected field.

Though there are significant resources available in the New York City public education system for educational enrichment activities like field trips, curricular supplements, and after-school programs, there is no comprehensive source of information on available options, and principals and teachers often must rely on personal relationships and word of mouth to discover appropriate opportunities. Moreover, when schools do find an educational enrichment provider they have interest in partnering with, these organizations are often unprepared for the bureaucratic processes necessary for accessing city funds, like procurement paperwork or getting background clearances. The NYC STEM Education Network (“the Network”) supports the community of STEM learning providers across the five boroughs. Hosted by ExpandED Schools, an intermediary nonprofit organization that delivers full-scale learning and development opportunities to students and educators throughout New York City public schools, the Network brings together over 150 city agencies, schools, afterschool programs, youth-serving organizations, science museums, universities, public and private funders, and intermediaries with an interest in STEM. The Network hosts regular community convenings to spark new ideas, deepen partnerships, and collaborate on ways to serve overlapping communities or increase their reach. The Network hosts district-level outreach and “speed-dating” events to introduce schools to a wide range of local after-school STEM providers and provides micro-grants of up to $5,000 to support initial school / STEM provider partnerships. Grant funds will allow the Network to continue and scale up these activities over the next two years, targeting six NYC school districts that most lack STEM enrichment opportunities, supporting an estimated 5,000 underserved NYC public school students. In addition, they will continue to run technical workshops for Network members on how to navigate NYC policies and processes, and generally support the growing community of STEM learning providers in the City.

Recent federal policy has led to the establishment and reinvigoration of many agencies and programs devoted to spurring the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies. Examples include the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, tax credits provided through the U.S. Treasury, the Loan Programs Office, and the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy. This grant funds a project led by Jonas Meckling at the University of California, Berkeley and Laura Diaz Anadon at the University of Cambridge to comprehensively identify these programs, document the strategies they employ, and study their impact on energy technology commercialization outcomes. Various methodological approaches will be brought to bear on these questions. First, the research team, will collect qualitative data about the institutional characteristics and functions of these programs, drawing on document reviews, interviews with key stakeholders, and other sources of information. They will then use this initial analysis to identify different institutional design features that warrant further quantitative study. In the second phase, the team will analyze energy technology commercialization by examining two databases that track patenting, investments, and other outcomes. Finally, the team will produce an analysis of a select subset of institutions through comparative, in-depth case studies that detail how these public sector organizations operate and function. The team’s political economy lens will allow the research to go beyond mere funding levels to assess a fuller range of the market-shaping impacts these institutions have in the clean energy ecosystem, such as helping to prioritize clean energy technology development goals, de-risk future investment, and facilitate learning within and across industries.

Each year SFFILM awards two feature film prizes to recognize excellence in science-themed filmmaking: the $20K Sloan Science in Cinema Prize which is awarded in December in advance of the Academy Awards; and a second, Science on Screen award, given out at its April film festival, which includes screenings and panels with scientists.  SFFILM also supports two screenwriters a year with a fellowship that includes a cash award, residency and mentorship by filmmakers and scientists. SFFILM also compiles an annual list of the ten best discoveries in science and gives a prize to two filmmakers to develop one discovery into a screenplay.

Launched by the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 with Sloan support, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (the Exchange), is an ongoing project to increase the quality of scientific content in American film and television through providing directors, producers, and other Hollywood executives with access to high quality consulting by real working scientists and researchers. Providing more than 250 consultations a year, the Exchange works to ensure accuracy when science is used in film and television, seeds new ideas within Hollywood by exposing creative and industry professionals to new scientific content, and acts as a well of professional advice across a wide range of scientific topics. This grant provides support for the Exchange for a period of three years and includes funds to continue the Exchange’s core work of providing science consultations, funds to expand and diversify the Exchange’s roster of science consultants, and funds for a series of in-person and online events showcasing women and Black, Indigenous and Latine scientists and engineers. 

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is an independent cinema in Brookline, Massachusetts specializing in international, documentary, animated, and independent film selections. Since 2008, the Coolidge has been the Foundation’s partner for Sloan Science on Screen, a nationwide program to support independent cinemas — spread across 44 states and Washington DC — that invite scientific experts to screenings of popular or cult classic films to discuss with audiences the scientific or technological themes or issues the film raises. The series offers an unexpected and informative entree into the relationship between science and film, showing that any film can lend itself to intelligent analysis, as well as fun, when viewed through a scientific or technological lens. Sloan support will allow Coolidge to make grants to 70 participating theatres, bringing the total number of independent cinema houses that have participated in Science on Screen to more than 110.