MAY 2026 Newsletter Featured Research A Plan for Bolivia's Economic Recovery In response to Bolivia’s deepening economic crisis, our researchers spent more than a year engaging with government officials, business and community leaders, and others, examining the underlying causes of the country’s challenges. At two events in Bolivia, the Growth Lab released a new series of reports that show this macroeconomic collapse is the most visible symptom of a much deeper crisis, and how a broad institutional breakdown weakened private investment, export capacity, and productivity growth across the economy. Our team has outlined a five-pillar plan to stabilize the economy and unlock Bolivia’s long-term potential. Explore the research >> Conoce más sobre la investigación >> Mapping Economic Opportunities in Global Clean Energy Supply Chains The global push to decarbonize is creating a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity for countries capable of manufacturing clean energy technologies and their inputs. Using a new dataset of 12 clean energy supply chains, this research paper, authored by Yang Li, Ketan Ahuja, Karan Daryanani, Ricardo Hausmann, and Muhammed A. Yildirim, offers insights for shaping industrial policy. Key takeaways for policymakers: these supply chains are complex, fast-growing, and worth targeting with industrial policy. Policymakers should view them as an interconnected portfolio rather than focusing on a single technology, and avoid pursuing full self-sufficiency, instead competing where realistic and importing the rest. Diversification is better predicted by a country's existing industrial strengths than by supply chain position. While entry opportunities still exist, they are narrowing, making timely investment in capability-building critical. Read the paper >> The Cube: A Lawful, Incremental Framework for Using Public Procurement to Pull Innovation While governments spend heavily on innovation through grants and tax credits, public procurement, at roughly 13% of GDP in OECD economies, dwarfs these budgets yet is rarely used as an innovation tool. Procurement systems are built for compliance, cost efficiency, and risk avoidance, leaving little room for experimentation. In this new research paper by Ricardo Hausmann and Yariv Gabay, the authors argue that governments don't have to choose between sound procurement and innovation policy — by reframing existing procurement tools, public buyers can explore new technologies, validate solutions, and scale what works, without abandoning core principles. Read the paper >> Additional Research Winning the Super Bowl of Economic Development: How Hyundai Metaplant America Landed in Savannah Report A. Fortunato Leveraging the Lakefront: Spurring Inclusive Growth in Cleveland, Ohio Through Urban Redevelopment Case Study (collaboration with Bloomberg Center for Cities) F. Ioffreda, J. de Jong, and T. O'Brien Tackling Discrepancies in Trade Data: The Harvard Growth Lab International Trade Datasets Scientific Data S. Bustos, E. Jackson, D. Torun, B. Leonard, N. Tuzcu, P. Lukaszuk, A. White, R. Hausmann, and M. Yildirim Inventing modern invention: The professionalization of technological progress in the US Research Policy M. Hartog, A. Gomez-Lievano, R. Hausmann, and F. Neffke New Mexico’s Economy Over Time and Space Growth Lab Working Paper Series J.C. Zamudio and T. O’Brien WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON Adding HS 2022 product classification to the Atlas, brings 600+ new products, many in advanced technologies, green energy, and biomedicine. In the News • Bolivia Seeks a $3 Billion Tourism Boost to Revive Its Crumbling Economy R. Hausmann, T. Freeman, Bloomberg News • Azerbaijan reviews growth strategy cooperation with Harvard Growth Lab R. Hausmann, Caliber • How Iran, Suffering Under Sanctions, Diversified Its Economy Atlas of Economic Complexity, New York Times • China shock 2.0: the flood of high-tech goods that will change the world Atlas of Economic Complexity, Financial Times • Finance minister arrives in Boston, engages with Harvard Growth Lab Growth Lab, Associated Press of Pakistan • The Real Question about the AI Future R. Hausmann, A. Velasco, Project Syndicate • Why Canada's housing crisis is a productivity crisis, too R. Hausmann, E. Protzer, Financial Post WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO Ricardo Hausmann discusses global recession risks and the economic outlook for the Americas on The Dip podcast. Events The Growth Lab hosted more than 20 events this academic year. You can view many of our event recordings on our YouTube channel. In this Development Talk, Howard Wolk, Co-CEO of The Cross Country Group and MC/MPA 2002, explores big questions at the heart of innovation: Does government fuel entrepreneurship, or get in its way?   Luis Alberto Jaramillo, Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, and Investment in Ecuador, speaks on the country's economic outlook and plans to secure a future of sustained growth and stability. Roberto Chang, Professor in the Department of Economics at Rutgers University, discusses his recently published books and explores relevant lessons for Peru and the developing world.   In this webinar, research fellows Tim O’Brien and Juan Carlos Orrego Zamudio share insights from our work in New Mexico, including the fiscal risks of economic reliance on fossil fuels. The Growth Lab congratulates all of our former interns and student research assistants who will graduate next week! Explore our student programs.