The political economy of the space age

Prof. Andrea Sommariva has recently joined SDA-Bocconi as director of SEE Lab, Space Economy Evolution Lab, the new SDA Bocconi’s research lab on the space economy. SEE Lab is a multidisciplinary center for the study of the space economy evolution. It will be based on a platform composed by the SDA Bocconi and some leading technological institutes. It will capitalize on the expertise of its academic, scientific, and industrial partners providing a forum to develop new ideas and to foster a better understanding of the global market linked to the evolving space economy, and the rapidly accelerating technologies enabling it.

People interested in these fascinating new developments will gain an insight by reading a book recently published by Vernon Press on The political economy of the space age. This book provides answers to the questions on the evolution of the space economy. At the core of the discussion are the relative roles of governments and markets in these dynamic adjustments, involving advancement in science, modifications in technology and organization, and the introduction of new rules of behaviour. There is a growing perception in social sciences that, in a complex and non-stationary environment, one cannot deduce behaviour solely from knowledge of market-delivered information and self-seeking goals of individual agents. Public institutions shaping the vision of the world, behavioural conventions, and interactions between agents are important in explaining what individual agents do, what kind of technical progress they expect in the future, how much they invest in innovations, what appropriability mechanisms they build, and how much they cooperate and compete with each other.

(For more information about special discout for Bocconi and SDA professors, students an participants, please refer to Mattia Pianorsi, mattia.pianorsi@sdabocconi.it).

SDA Bocconi School of Management