Defining strategic financial governance of innovation: institutional context(s) and strategic capabilities of State-Investment Banks in the EU.

Project Information

DeFInE

Grant agreement ID: 896318

DOI

10.3030/896318

Project closed

EC signature date 22 April 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 September 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 212 933,76

EU contribution

€ 212 933,76

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DeFInE (Defining strategic financial governance of innovation: institutional context(s) and strategic capabilities of State-Investment Banks in the EU.)

Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This MSCA titled ‘Defining strategic financial governance of innovation: institutional context(s) and strategic capabilities of state-investment banks in the EU’ aimed at the following two objectives:
1) developing a more nuanced understanding of state investment banks as specialised financial institutions; and
2) supporting the researcher in developing more policy-oriented research competences and communication skills.
The project achieved both aims, despite substantial disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and particularly public investment policies implemented during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic provided a set of unique opportunities in terms of studying public investments as well as contributing to policy discussions through policy-oriented publications and events (such as policy-focused discussion panels). Namely, unprecedented public spending programmes that took place worldwide and the implementation of post-COVID recovery plans (e.g. Recovery and Resilience Facility in the EU) provided a unique opportunity to develop an additional focus on green and net-zero investment policies. In addition, the empirical framework of the project was expanded towards looking at how climate-related investments are coordinated between key public financial institutions: Finance Ministries, Central Banks and state investment banks. This broader but relatively niche focus on public investments and their coordination at the institutional/governance level is reflected in the academic publications that resulted from the project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In terms of academic research, publications that resulted from the project make substantive contribution to existing scholarship on public investments and particularly in the fields of innovation studies as well as green transition. Expanding the conceptual framework of ‘finance’ towards ‘financial governance’ and 'state-led investment function' is a forward-looking contribution to the innovation studies as a discipline as well as to the rapidly developing field of climate finance.

In term of policy-related activities, the impact of the project was considerable and exceeded activities initially foreseen. Namely, the researcher contributed to policy publications discussing the issues of green industrial strategy, community-oriented wealth fund, and just transitions. The researcher also convened and chaired the Discussion Series ‘Governing the Green Transition’, which explicitly aimed at building bridges between academic research and policy practice and was open to the wider public audience.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Related to the actual public policy developments (such as RRF), the project resulted in a number of positively unexpected outcomes, such as a larger number of policy-oriented publications and a larger number of joint activities with other researchers, including at the level of international organisations (such as UNCTAD). The broader socio-economic impact of the project – contributing to the research and policy discussions around public investments – is directly linked to the ongoing policy challenges of expanding climate-related investments to achieve net-zero targets while safeguarding economic and fiscal/financial stability of national governments. The policy-oriented publications that resulted from the project directly contributed to this ongoing conversation in the EU as well as in the UK.

public investments in green transition (image)