SMNR: The Direction of Innovation: Law, Capital, and Technological Change

• Semester: Fall 2026
• Course ID: 397S
• Credit Hours: 3
• Unique: 31968

Registration Status: Open

Description

This seminar examines how legal and financial institutions shape not just the rate of innovation, but its direction. Why do some technologies flourish while others remain underdeveloped? How do tort liability, patent design, venture capital, and regulatory structures channel investment toward certain forms of innovation and away from others?

The course explores how uniform legal rules interact with heterogeneous technologies, often producing systematic distortions. We will study how tort liability surrounding pregnancy and fetal harm may deter innovation in female reproductive health; how uniform 20-year patent terms can disadvantage long-horizon innovations such as cancer prevention; and how venture capital’s fund structure and exit incentives favor scalable, short-term returns over slower, prevention-oriented or liability-exposed technologies. Throughout, we consider how discount rates, risk allocation, and institutional design influence technological trajectories and raise questions about equity and social welfare.