Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions
<p class="first" id="d4334092e80">Prompted by rising income inequality (in short, inequality) in advanced economies, a rapidly growing number of studies across various fields and disciplines of social science have, since the 1990s, sought to find out...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pluto Journals
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Prometheus |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/prometheus.38.2.0147 |
| _version_ | 1797834023171522560 |
|---|---|
| author | Thanos Fragkandreas |
| author_facet | Thanos Fragkandreas |
| author_sort | Thanos Fragkandreas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p class="first" id="d4334092e80">Prompted by rising income inequality (in short, inequality) in advanced economies,
a rapidly growing number of studies across various fields and disciplines of social
science have, since the 1990s, sought to find out how innovation (as the main engine
of economic progress) affects the distribution of income in modern-day capitalist
societies. Using the systematic literature review method, this paper provides the
first critical review of 166 studies on innovation and inequality published in 114
journals in the last three decades (1990–2019). It is shown that, while the great
majority of studies under review concur that innovation induces inequality, this finding
is subject to the disciplinary origins of research (e.g., development studies, economics,
geography, innovation studies, etc.) and the country under investigation. Furthermore,
guided by an original causally holistic analytical framework, the analysis demonstrates
that the relationship between innovation and inequality is significantly more causally
complex than the most popular theoretical perspective (i.e., skill-biased technological
change account) has let us believe; in particular, it is subject to five causal scenarios
and a range of explanatory factors (i.e., skill premiums, technological unemployment,
international trade, declining union membership, spatial aspects, changing employment
conditions, policy, horizontal inequalities, sectoral composition and types of innovation).
The paper ends by discussing findings, policy implications and knowledge gaps, one
of which concerns the following under-researched question: how, and under what conditions
do publicly funded innovation policies reduce (or increase) inequality?
</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:33:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e06b477eee9042febdbea25a8de6fed5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0810-9028 1470-1030 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:33:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Pluto Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Prometheus |
| spelling | doaj.art-e06b477eee9042febdbea25a8de6fed52023-05-03T15:24:03ZengPluto JournalsPrometheus0810-90281470-10302022-07-0138214719310.13169/prometheus.38.2.0147Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestionsThanos Fragkandreas<p class="first" id="d4334092e80">Prompted by rising income inequality (in short, inequality) in advanced economies, a rapidly growing number of studies across various fields and disciplines of social science have, since the 1990s, sought to find out how innovation (as the main engine of economic progress) affects the distribution of income in modern-day capitalist societies. Using the systematic literature review method, this paper provides the first critical review of 166 studies on innovation and inequality published in 114 journals in the last three decades (1990–2019). It is shown that, while the great majority of studies under review concur that innovation induces inequality, this finding is subject to the disciplinary origins of research (e.g., development studies, economics, geography, innovation studies, etc.) and the country under investigation. Furthermore, guided by an original causally holistic analytical framework, the analysis demonstrates that the relationship between innovation and inequality is significantly more causally complex than the most popular theoretical perspective (i.e., skill-biased technological change account) has let us believe; in particular, it is subject to five causal scenarios and a range of explanatory factors (i.e., skill premiums, technological unemployment, international trade, declining union membership, spatial aspects, changing employment conditions, policy, horizontal inequalities, sectoral composition and types of innovation). The paper ends by discussing findings, policy implications and knowledge gaps, one of which concerns the following under-researched question: how, and under what conditions do publicly funded innovation policies reduce (or increase) inequality? </p>https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/prometheus.38.2.0147 |
| spellingShingle | Thanos Fragkandreas Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions Prometheus |
| title | Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions |
| title_full | Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions |
| title_fullStr | Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions |
| title_short | Three decades of research on innovation and inequality: Causal scenarios, explanatory factors and suggestions |
| title_sort | three decades of research on innovation and inequality causal scenarios explanatory factors and suggestions |
| url | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/prometheus.38.2.0147 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thanosfragkandreas threedecadesofresearchoninnovationandinequalitycausalscenariosexplanatoryfactorsandsuggestions |