If you want to shape the direction of technology, you can try to pull the kinds of technology you want into existence by shaping how markets will receive different kinds of technology.
One specific context where we have some really nice evidence about the efficacy of pull policies is the automobile market. Making fuel more expensive or just flat out mandating carmakers meet certain emissions standards seems to pretty reliably nudge automakers into developing cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles. We’ve got two complementary lines of evidence here: patents and measures of progress in fuel economy.
This podcast is an audio read through of the (initial version of the) article "Pulling more fuel efficient cars into existence," published on New Things Under the Sun.
Articles mentioned:
Aghion, Philippe, Antoine Dechezleprêtre, David Hémous, Ralf Martin, and John Van Reenen. 2016. Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry. Journal of Political Economy 124(1): 1-51. https://doi.org/10.1086/684581
Rozendaal, Rik, and Herman R.J. Vollebergh. 2021. Policy-Induced Innovation in Clean Technologies: Evidence from the Car Market. CESifo working paper no. 9422. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3969578
Knittel, Christopher R. 2012. Automobiles on Steroids: Product Attribute Trade-Offs and Technological Progress in the Automobile Sector. American Economic Review 101: 3368-3399. http://doi.org/10.1257/aer.101.7.3368
Klier, Thomas, and Joshua Linn. 2016. The effect of vehicle economy standards on technology adoption. Journal of Public Economics 133: 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.11.002
Kiso, Takahiko. 2019. Environmental Policy and Induced Technological Change: Evidence from Automobile Fuel Economy Regulations. Environmental and Resource Economics 74: 785-810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-019-00347-6
Reynaert, Mathias. 2021. Abatement Strategies and the Cost of Environmental Regulations: Emission Standards on the European Car Market. The Review of Economic Studies 88(1): 454-488. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa058
Ahmadpoor, Mohammad, and Benjamin F. Jones. 2017. The Dual Frontier: Patented inventions and prior scientific advance. Science 357(6351): 583-587. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9527
Roach, Michael, and Wesley M. Cohen. 2013. Lens or Prism? Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows from Public Research. Management Science 59(2): 504-525. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1644