Advertise on podcast: The Innovation and Diffusion Podcast

In this episode, our guest is Harun Alp from the FED and we talk about his academic journey, role models, subsistences versus transformative entrepreneurs, who becomes a transformative entrepreneur, efficient policy making, and more! Enjoy! 00:00 What are the big picture questions that Harun Alp is after? 02:13 His Role Models 04:56 Co-Authorship Dynamics: Who Should You Choose as your Co-Author? 07:11 Any Useful Research Habits? 10:00 Entrepreneurship Fundamentals: What goes into the Entrepreneurship box? 13:35 Who are Transformative vs Subsistence Entrepreneurs? 16:10 Who Becomes a Transformative Entrepreneur? 22:29 Macroeconomic Determinants of Entrepreneurship 26:40 Which policy is the best? 29:52 Cheezy Questions and Never Have I Ever! Link for the paper: https://www.harunalp.net/assets/papers/AAPP_May2025.pdf

In this episode, our guest is Alexander T. Whalley from the University of Calgary and we talked about his academic journey, paper suggestions, large public R&D policies, space race, and more! Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen on X) 01:35 Big Picture Questions and Alex’s Academic Journey  03:35 A Research Habit Recommendation 05:01 A “Must-Read” Paper Suggestion (Enrico Moretti: https://moretti.econ.berkeley.edu )  06:40 Returns to Public R&D: Space Race and Cold War  13:15 CIA Data: Is it Accessible?  15:39 How Should We Understand the “No Productivity Effects”?  18:30 Should Governments Implement More Mission-Focus R&D Policies? 22:01 Surprising Moments from the “Moonshot” Paper 23:00 Geography of Innovation  25:56 Gaps in the Literature  27:38 Cheezy Questions & Never Have I Ever! Papers Mentioned: Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth 150 Years of the Geography of Innovation

In this episode, our guest is Reka Juhasz from the University of British Columbia and we talked about her academic journey, favorite books and papers in economics, why some countries could successfully industrialize while others failed, what made Meiji Japan special, and more! 06:58 Why could some countries industrialize more successfully than others?  09:55 What specifically happened in Meiji Japan in the 19th century? 20:10 What is the main message of this QJE paper? 23:00 Industrial Policy and Political Agendas 28:25 Cheezy Questions and Never Have I Ever! Papers/Books mentioned in the episode: Codification, Technology Absorption, and the Globalization of the Industrial Revolution: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32667 The Rise of "the Rest": https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-of-the-rest-9780195170597?cc=gb&lang=en& The Wind of Change: Maritime Technology, Trade, and Economic Development: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20140832

In this episode, our guest is Fabian Waldinger (University of Munich) and we talked about his research interests, scientific production and boycotts in the World War 1 era, women in academia, the role of socio-economic background on academic success, and more! Enjoy! 0:52 What is the main question that he is after?  01:29 What drew him into his research areas?  03:21 Who were his role models? 04:14 Which paper in economics is his favorite?   05:47 International Scientific Production, WW1 and Boycotts 22:16 What are the implications of “International Collaboration in Science” for today?  24:07 Data comes first or the question? What is Fabian’s production function?  26:05 Women in Academia throughout the 20th Century 28:55 Socio-economic background and the Success Likelihood of being in Academia 36:00 Cheezy Questions & Never Have I Ever!

In this episode, our guest is Camille Landais (@landais_camille on X) from the London School of Economics and we talk about his academic journey, interests in family economics, policy making versus academia, the relationship between gender inequality and child penalty, and more! Enjoy! Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen on X) Intro: His Academic Journey and Interests on Gender Inequality & Family Economics 05:58 Academia or Policy Making? 08:05 Gender Inequality and Having Children  14:49 What are the channels or mechanisms? 17:28 Child Penalty is Larger in Developed Economies: childpenaltyatlas.org 23:52 Do Welfare Policies Work? What are Camille’s Family Policy Suggestions? 29:01 Cheezy Questions!

In this episode, our guest is Salomé Baslandze from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and we talked about her academic journey, influential economists in her career, new data on product vs process innovations, firm growth, political connections, policy suggestions, and more! Host: Ruveyda Nur Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen on X) 1:04 Her Academic Journey 4:52 Comparison between Academia and Policy Institutions 7:40 The "AI" Heat on Academia 22:57 Why do economists use theoretical models?  29:50 The Role of Competition Authorities 32:56 Research Gaps in the Literature 36:00 Cheezy Questions! 38:03 Never Have I Ever!

In this episode, our guest is Thomas Philippon who is a Professor of Finance at NYU Stern. We talked about his academic journey from Physics to Economics, influential economists, competition, superstar firms, concentration, and more! 13:36 Debating Market Competition 24:23 Historical Context of Superstar Firms 27:49 Impact of COVID on Market Dynamics 30:23 Market Power and Concentration: Good or Bad? 34:19 Comparative Analysis: US vs Europe 41:52 Cheezy Questions and Never Have I Ever!

In this episode, our guest is Alberto Bisin, a Professor of Economics at NYU. We talked about his personal academic journey, the economics culture at the University of Chicago, culture for economic growth, evolution in economics, and more! Host: Ruveyda Gozen (Cardiff Business School and CEP LSE) Producers: Ruveyda Gozen (Cardiff Business School and LSE) and John Van Reenen (LSE) 01:50 Evolution of Economics 05:16 Experiences at the University of Chicago 13:50 The Role of Culture in Economic Growth 21:06 Let's Think of a Hypothetical County? 25:45 The Long Divergence between the West and Middle East 42:48 Cheezy Questions & Never Have I Ever!

In this episode, our guest is Fiona Murray from MIT. We talked about her academic journey, publication processes, Nobel Prize winners in Economics, gender, security-driven innovation, and more! 12:15 Entrepreneurship is about failure. How about you? 15:54 Publication Speed in Economics and Other Fields 18:22 Nobel Prize Winners in Economics 21:00 Gender, Innovation and Innovation Ecosystems 31:17 Market-Driven Innovations vs Security-Driven Innovations

In this episode, our guest is Nick Bloom from Stanford University! And we talked about academic production functions, diffusion of innovation, economic situation in the US and the UK, working from home, and more. 01:41 How did he decide to be an economist? 03:17 John Van Reenen and Nick Bloom 04:45 Co-authorship and Academic Production Function   08:26 Diffusion of Innovation 16:25 Politics, Trump, and Long Run Innovation 20:28 How about the UK Politics?  26:33 Working from Home, Academia, Undergrads and Grads 35:58 What are the gaps in the literature? 38:00 “Gollum” Strategy? 40:59 If he couldn’t be an economist in a parallel universe, what would he be? 42:32 Is there something in economics he believes in that others disagree with? 44:45 Never have I ever!

In this episode, our guest is a young star economist: Kyle Myers from Harvard Business School! We talked about the current clash between the Trump administration and Harvard, NIH, "Elasticity of Science", Covid, and more! Current Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen) Timestamps: 00:00 Intro, Trump, and Harvard  06:35 “Elasticity” of Science  20:43 Funding for Science: Is there a better way?  24:53 Covid and Elasticity of Science  28:03 Let’s Switch to More Personal Questions!  30:55 What is Kyle’s Production Function of Research? 34:55 If he couldn’t be an economist, what would he be in a parallel universe? 36:35 What’s something you believe about research or academia that many others in economics don’t agree with? 38:43 “This or That?” 40:13 Never Have I Ever!

In this episode, our guest is Jonathan Haskel from Imperial College and we talked about productivity puzzle in the UK, general productivity slowdown, intangible capital, and finance! Current Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen) 04:00 Productivity Puzzle in the UK  11:12 Productivity Slowdown and Intangible Capital 29:25 Finance and Intangible Capital Investment 35:34 Some “personal” questions! 41:53 Game on! This or That?

In this episode, our guest is Walker Hanlon who is an Associate Professor in Economics at Northwestern University. We talked about if necessity is the mother of invention, different theories about directed technical change, why the British Industrial Revolution specifically persisted and more! 06:40 Necessity: the mother of invention?  08:20 What is directed technical change?  09:50 Theories on directed technical change  15:10 Laissez-Faire and Walker’s New Book! 20:00 Why did The British Industrial Revolution persist? 32:25 Cheezy Question and “This or That” Game!

In this episode, our guest is Sascha Becker from the University of Warwick, and we talk about religion, how it is related to economic growth, Max Weber's theory on the Protestant Ethic, Erasmus, Luther, power dynamics, and more! 14:00 Religion and Economic Growth 17:00 Max Weber and The Protestant Ethic Theory 21:47 Digging for the Data 28:28 Objections from Various Disciplines 32:15 Diffusion of Ideas, and Innovations 35:59 Power Shift, Luther, and the Church 46:05 Cheezy Questions! 49:55 This or That? Who are you going to write a book with?!

In this episode, our guest is Robin Burgess from the LSE and we talked about the direction that the Environmental Economics is taking, new datasets, approaches, tension between economic growth, and climate change, and more! Current Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen) Podcast Owners: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen) and John Van Reenen (@johnvanreenen) 01:30 Deforestation and Political Incentives 06:25 The Direction of Environmental Economics 10:50 A Personal Story by Robin Burgess and His Production Function 14:30 His New ERC Grant and The Projects Ahead! 21:00 Economic Growth and Climate Change Tension 25:40 Whose Turn(!) to Pollute? 34:30 Green Policies 42:50 Cheezy Questions!