Penrose Lectures at SOAS University of London: April 28 & 29, 2026

Is Edith Penrose today more relevant than ever?

Professor Chris Pitelis will deliver this year’s Penrose Public Lectures at SOAS University of London.
📅 Tuesday 28 & Wednesday 29 April, 2026
🕕 6:00pm BST
📍 Senate House Alumni Lecture Theatre

Under the theme “The garden of Edith seventy years after: Penrose and the organisational market economy,” the lectures will explore:
• The firm, organisational economics, strategy, and entrepreneurial management
• Middle East oil, multinational–state relations, and public policy for sustainable development

These and other topics addressed by Penrose remain as relevant today as ever—at the heart of current socioeconomic and geopolitical challenges and opportunities.

All those with an interest in these topics are warmly welcome.

🔗 Click here for more details and registration,

How the American Research University Survives

Writing in Issues in Science and Technology, Robert Brown and Bruce Guile explore the current state of American higher education and research enterprise sectors.

They examine why radical strategic shifts are needed within individual research universities and those shifts, taken together, must constitute an equally radical revision of the entire US system. University leadership and governing boards need to turn their attention away from chasing institutional prestige and rankings to focus instead on crafting intentional survival strategies. 


Such changes are urgently needed to address risks from precarious federal funding cuts, decreasing enrollment projections, lowered public support for tertiary education, and rising global competition.

Read the full article here.

AI + Intellectual Capital + IP: New Challenges and Opportunities for Companies

Writing as a guest for The Intangible Investor column in IPWatchdog, David Teece examines the growing use of artificial intelligence, and its implications for the intellectual capital and intellectual property rights of firms.

Professor Teece notes, “Firms that will thrive in this new environment are those that use AI-captured knowledge to augment human capability rather than simply substitute for it.”

AI brings a new era for companies and industries. Strong firms need dynamic capabilities more than ever to outpace the competition.

Read the full column here.

Op-Ed on Regulatory Exclusivity for Pharmaceutical Innovation

Many political leaders increasingly view regulatory exclusivity as a lucrative handout to pharmaceutical companies. In a new DC Journal op-ed, Professor Kristina M. L. Acri née Lybecker explains why that narrative is mistaken -- and cautions against policies that would weaken exclusivity and discourage the investments that lead to new medicines.

"It's vital for policymakers to understand that regulatory exclusivity isn't a windfall or a loophole. It is a load-bearing incentive for medical innovation and all the societal benefits it delivers, from improved longevity and worker productivity, to reduced spending on hospital care, to more research and manufacturing jobs."

Read the full op-ed here.

New Policy Brief: The Economics of Skinny Labels

With the Supreme Court set to hear Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., key questions are coming into focus. How might the Court's decision reshape strategies for brand-name and generic manufacturers? And what risks will companies face when marketing “skinny label” products?

A new policy brief from the Eira Initiative, "The Economics of Skinny Labels," explores these issues -- and examines what’s at stake for patients, generic manufacturers, innovators, and policymakers.

The bottom line: The best path forward preserves timely generic entry while maintaining strong incentives for post-approval innovation.

Read the full policy brief here.

Launch of the Journal of Dynamic Competition

The Journal of Dynamic Competition (JDC) debuted on March 27, 2026 at the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington, DC.

JDC is an open‑access journal published by World Scientific focused on advancing scholarship at the intersection of competition, innovation, and economic dynamics.

As co-founders and co‑editors, Professor David Teece and Professor Nicolas Petit are excited to help build a forum for rigorous and timely perspectives on how competition policy and strategy evolve in fast‑changing markets.

The journal and its inaugural content are freely available online.

Constitution of Innovation Launch Event: Video Available on YouTube

In a milestone event for competition policy, law, and economics, scholars convened at European University Institute on February 17, 2026 to launch the Constitution of Innovation.

The new manifesto proposes a forward-looking roadmap to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness through a renewed approach to economic governance. Co-authored by Professor Luis Garicano (London School of Economics), Professor Nicolas Petit (European University Institute), and Nobel Laureate Professor Bengt Holmström (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the manifesto addresses Europe’s growing innovation gap and the structural challenges facing the Single Market.

“The constitution of innovation reminds us that innovation is not only about new technology and startups; it is about the rules of the game. [It's about] the way we design markets, the way we manage fermentation, and the way we uphold legal certainty and long-term prosperity” said Johanna Mair, Director of the Florence STG, in her opening remarks.

Watch the video on YouTube here.

Read the Constitution of Innovation here.

Survival Guide for the STEM Research and Education Enterprise at US Universities

A working group of experts assembled in early 2026 to author a practical guide for universities in the United States.

The paper analyzes the rising global competition facing US research universities in recent decades and the degree to which universities have increased internal resources directed to research. These trends provide background context for the Trump Administration’s 2025 reductions in Federal research funding for individual universities and the sector at large. Actual and potential government budget cuts have shifted a slowly unsustainable path into an urgent fiscal crisis at many institutions.

The paper recommends four ways in which US research universities need to immediately respond to this crisis even as they prepare to make longer term strategic choices. The descriptions of the four preparatory actions are followed by five actions to cope with reduced Federal research funding, all of which will require exceptional intentionality from most university leadership and boards. The paper closes with supporting policy and practice changes needed to enable adaptive strategic action.

Read the full paper here.