There are lots of ways to avoid risk, lots of different levels of risk aversion, and lots of potential government subsidies to apply for. How do companies decide on how best to avoid risk, what a proper level of risk aversion/risk acceptance is prudent, and what specific subsidies to target/apply for?

Those are really tough questions and the answer is a complete mystery. Of course, I do seem to recall an interview one time with a Big Pharma exec where he said "None of our decisions in these areas have anything to do with profit motivation. Lord knows we don't operate in a trillion dollar, for-profit industry because we want to make money."

So, at the very least, we know it's not that, right?