Daniel Hemel, "Patents, Prizes, and Pandemics"

The Covid-19 crisis has added new urgency to a centuries-old debate over the relative merits of patents and prizes as mechanisms for innovation. It also casts light on the promise and pitfalls of other innovation policies, including public-private partnerships and drug-development tax credits. In this lecture, Professor Hemel evaluates innovation incentives in the Pandemic era within a framework that is informed by economics, political science, and considerations of distributive justice.

This lecture was recorded on September 14, 2020, as part of the Coase-Sandor Global Lecture Series.