In 1989, the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity produced the Made in America report. One of the recommendations of Made in America was to establish the Industrial Performance Center (IPC) to carry on the interdisciplinary investigations of industrial productivity, innovation, and competitiveness that the Commission had begun. Established in 1991, with the help of a major grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the IPC has brought together faculty and students from all five MIT Schools in research collaborations on industry. Since its inception, the faculty, students and affiliates of the IPC have produced numerous books, articles, papers and other publications that have advanced the understanding of strategic, technological, and organizational developments in a broad range of industries.
Book | January 22, 2019
Forged Consensus: Science, Technology, and Economic Policy in the United States 1921-1953
In this thought-provoking book, David Hart challenges the creation myth of post — World War II federal science and technology policy.
Working Paper | April 9, 2010
Alignment and Misalignment of Technology Push and Regulatory Pull: Federal RD&D Support for SO2 and NOx Emissions Control Technology for Coal-Fired Power Plants, 1970-2000
This paper relies on interviews and documentary evidence to describe federal RD&D policy for SO2 and NOx emissions controls for coal-fired power plants from 1970 to 2000 and to assess its impact on technology development. The narrative begins by describing the RD&D program of the EPA in the 1970s, which many observers deem to have […]
Working Paper | March 9, 2009
Don’t Worry About the Government? The LEED-NC ‘Green Building’ Rating System and Energy Efficiency in U.S. Commercial Buildings
This paper describes the history, development, and current operation of USGBC and LEED, particularly with regard to energy efficiency in commercial buildings, the subsector in which LEED has had its greatest impact. The narrative situates “green building” in a political as well as a business context. While USGBC may well have been “the right idea […]