Re:The rise and fall of the industrial R&D lab
by JamesBarney on Sunday August 30, 2020 @03:21PM
(#24325186)
So making a profit most of the time means that you have 100,000 customers whose live are better off because of what you're doing.
Sometimes this breaks down because you make other people's lives worse in order to make the 100,000 better, i.e. externalities.
But continuing to get funding for doing a social good means you're convincing someone you're making someone's else's life better(i.e. nonprofits). The problem is sometimes this convincing is entirely unrelated to actually making people's lives better.
Or you're convincing a beaurocrat that you'll make his life better. And hopefully the incentive structures are aligned such that this involves making someone's else's life better. But this can be incredibly tricky with the layers of reporting up to some political appointee who reports to a politician who reports to the people. And any break in incentives or more likely attention along the way can misalign the work with social good.
Sometimes this breaks down because you make other people's lives worse in order to make the 100,000 better, i.e. externalities.
But continuing to get funding for doing a social good means you're convincing someone you're making someone's else's life better(i.e. nonprofits). The problem is sometimes this convincing is entirely unrelated to actually making people's lives better.
Or you're convincing a beaurocrat that you'll make his life better. And hopefully the incentive structures are aligned such that this involves making someone's else's life better. But this can be incredibly tricky with the layers of reporting up to some political appointee who reports to a politician who reports to the people. And any break in incentives or more likely attention along the way can misalign the work with social good.