The Innovation and Diffusion Podcast

In this episode, our guest is Eric Zwick from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and we talked about his academic journey, his and Owen Zidar's new book "The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There", a new groundbreaking working paper on entrepreneurship, and more!

Link to his book: https://www.everywheremillionaire.com

Host: Ruveyda Nur Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen on X)

00:56 Big Picture Questions
07:35 The Everywhere Millionaire
15:58 Tax Policy and Thoughts
20:49 Political Influence and "Stealthy Wealthy"
26:00  Creating New Businesses in America: The Determinants of and Returns to Entrepreneurship
45:20 Cheezy Questions!

In this episode, our guest is Harun Alp from the FED and we talk about his academic journey, role models, subsistences versus transformative entrepreneurs, who becomes a transformative entrepreneur, efficient policy making, and more! Enjoy!

00:00 What are the big picture questions that Harun Alp is after?
02:13 His Role Models
04:56 Co-Authorship Dynamics: Who Should You Choose as your Co-Author?
07:11 Any Useful Research Habits?
10:00 Entrepreneurship Fundamentals: What goes into the Entrepreneurship box?
13:35 Who are Transformative vs Subsistence Entrepreneurs?
16:10 Who Becomes a Transformative Entrepreneur?
22:29 Macroeconomic Determinants of Entrepreneurship
26:40 Which policy is the best?
29:52 Cheezy Questions and Never Have I Ever!

Link for the paper: https://www.harunalp.net/assets/papers/AAPP_May2025.pdf

In this episode, our guest is Alexander T. Whalley from the University of Calgary and we talked about his academic journey, paper suggestions, large public R&D policies, space race, and more!
Host: Ruveyda Gozen (@ruveyda_gozen on X)

01:35 Big Picture Questions and Alex’s Academic Journey 
03:35 A Research Habit Recommendation
05:01 A “Must-Read” Paper Suggestion (Enrico Moretti: https://moretti.econ.berkeley.edu ) 
06:40 Returns to Public R&D: Space Race and Cold War 
13:15 CIA Data: Is it Accessible? 
15:39 How Should We Understand the “No Productivity Effects”? 
18:30 Should Governments Implement More Mission-Focus R&D Policies? 22:01 Surprising Moments from the “Moonshot” Paper
23:00 Geography of Innovation 
25:56 Gaps in the Literature 
27:38 Cheezy Questions & Never Have I Ever!

Papers Mentioned:
Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth
150 Years of the Geography of Innovation

In this episode, our guest is Reka Juhasz from the University of British Columbia and we talked about her academic journey, favorite books and papers in economics, why some countries could successfully industrialize while others failed, what made Meiji Japan special, and more!

06:58 Why could some countries industrialize more successfully than others? 
09:55 What specifically happened in Meiji Japan in the 19th century?
20:10 What is the main message of this QJE paper?
23:00 Industrial Policy and Political Agendas
28:25 Cheezy Questions and Never Have I Ever!

Papers/Books mentioned in the episode:
Codification, Technology Absorption, and the Globalization of the Industrial Revolution: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32667

The Rise of "the Rest": https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-of-the-rest-9780195170597?cc=gb&lang=en&

The Wind of Change: Maritime Technology, Trade, and Economic Development: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20140832

In this episode, our guest is Fabian Waldinger (University of Munich) and we talked about his research interests, scientific production and boycotts in the World War 1 era, women in academia, the role of socio-economic background on academic success, and more! Enjoy!

0:52 What is the main question that he is after? 
01:29 What drew him into his research areas? 
03:21 Who were his role models?
04:14 Which paper in economics is his favorite? 
 05:47 International Scientific Production, WW1 and Boycotts
22:16 What are the implications of “International Collaboration in Science” for today? 
24:07 Data comes first or the question? What is Fabian’s production function? 
26:05 Women in Academia throughout the 20th Century
28:55 Socio-economic background and the Success Likelihood of being in Academia
36:00 Cheezy Questions & Never Have I Ever!