Harvard Kennedy School

JULY 2024

Featured Research

Investigating Japan's Economic Puzzle

Nighttime view of industrial plant in Kawasaki, Japan

Japan faces significant and well-known structural challenges, including an aging population and a stagnated labor force, likely contributing to its economic slowdown. However, new research by Dany Bahar, Guillermo Arcay, Jesus Daboin Pacheco, and Ricardo Hausmann has yielded several crucial insights that show Japan's global footprint is both substantial and expanding. This growth is notable in knowledge-intensive sectors, underscoring Japan's preeminence in innovation and knowledge creation. The findings indicate a decline in the quality of Japanese innovation despite its high volume, and this discrepancy poses a significant risk to Japan's continued leadership in the global knowledge economy. To counteract this trend, the authors propose strategic policy interventions to enhance innovation quality.

Economic Challenges Facing Argentina

Cars, buses and pedestrians on a busy city street in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Argentina's new administration under President Milei is at a critical juncture, facing significant economic challenges. With one of the highest inflation rates globally, over a decade of stagnation, and rising poverty, Argentina needs urgent economic stabilization. In this article, Growth Lab research fellows Fernando García and Lucila Venturi examine how Milei’s government plans aggressive fiscal and monetary reforms to address these issues, focusing on reducing the fiscal deficit and controlling inflation through reduced public spending and monetary adjustments. Despite promising initial results, including a drop in sovereign spreads and accumulated reserves, sparking economic recovery remains an open question as the government continues to rely on distortions like capital controls, which hampers the country's growth prospects.

Related: How would dollarization affect Argentina's competitiveness?

Grants in Wyoming: Contraints and Solutions

Aerial view of Casper, Wyoming with mountains in the background

Amidst a major federal push to channel grant funding for infrastructure projects across the United States, few communities in Wyoming are benefiting from the current system. Through an intensive effort with local counterparts combining research and action, the Growth Lab’s project in Wyoming has diagnosed why. A new research note identifies the principal constraints most to blame for Wyoming’s underperformance, including a lack of relationships between communities and funders and an inability to navigate changing grant opportunities. The project is now working with partners in the state to build a network-based response while also collaborating with federal partners to lower barriers to entry for small, rural communities across the country.

Explore our Pathways to Prosperity project in Wyoming.

WIPO 2024

Making Innovation Policy Work for Development

The World Intellectual Property Organization released its new 2024 report on the role of innovation in market economies. The Growth Lab provided background research in two areas: “Innovation Policies Under Economic Complexity” and “Global Trends in Innovation Patterns: A Complexity Approach."

At the launch event, Prof. Hausmann delivered the keynote address and shared insights into how economies can develop productive capabilities, diversify industries, and apply the economic complexity approach.

Photo credit: WIPO / Emmanuel Berrod (CC BY 4.0)

Additional Research

Supply-side Economics of a Good Type: Supporting and Expanding South Africa’s Informal Economy

Working Paper

A. Lochmann, et al.

A collaboration with the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town

Harnessing Global Value Chains for Regional Development: How to Upgrade Through Regional Policy, FDI, and Trade

Book Review

Ricardo Hausmann

Women Seeking Jobs With Limited Information: Evidence From Iraq

Working Paper

D. Martin

In the News

Andalucía se alía con Harvard para impulsar el crecimiento económico y la creación de empleo

R. Hausmann in El Economista

Hausmann (Harvard) sugiere el 'crecimiento verde' para paliar falta de ingresos de Andalucía

R. Hausmann in ABC de Sevilla

South Africa has failed its Black majority

R. Hausmann in CNN

Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?

Growth Lab data analysis in The New York Times

Around the World

Snapshots from recent trips to Hermosillo, Mexico, and Morocco, where the Growth Lab launched new policy engagements.

The Growth Lab team stands with members of the Amazonia Emprende forest school on a hillside in the rainforest.

Touring the Leoni Wiring Systems' plant in Hermosillo and learning about the processes and economic challenges of manufacturing automotive harnesses.

Research team meeting with universities and research institutions to learn more about the local innovation and education systems in Hermosillo.

Growth Lab team members outside the UM6P Africa Business School with palm trees in the background.

Our research team outside the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) Africa Business School in Rabat, Morocco.

Standing before a large digital screen, Ricardo Hausmann points to an audience member while holding a microphone.

Ricardo Hausmann shares insights on economic complexity and pathways for sustainable growth and prosperity.

DATA TOOLS

Our 'Metroverse' urban economy navigator contains 2024 data for 1,000+ cities.

World map with orange dots representing certain cities

INTRODUCING OUR STUDENT INTERNS

We’ve welcomed 16 interns to the Growth Lab this summer! Each will play a vital role in our ongoing projects in Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Hermosillo, Morocco and Wyoming. Explore their profiles and watch for blogs about their research and experiences.

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