Innovation and Income Inequalities: Comparing Entrepreneurial State and Standard Welfare Policies

Abstract

Innovation fosters economic growth and the long-run dynamics of national economies. However, recent literature shows that innovation is also a source of increasing income inequalities. Public policies face thus an important trade-off between efficiency and equity effects of innovation. What are the possible policy strategies to address this trade-off? The paper presents a model in which innovations can be developed by both private firms and public companies. Technological change increases the profit share in the long-run, exacerbating income inequalities between firms’ owners, employed workers, and the unemployed. I empirically calibrate the model for the US economy and carry out a simulation analysis to investigate the effects of different policies aimed at reducing the inequality effects of innovation. Specifically, the analysis compares two distinct policy strategies: one is based on a standard economic policy approach that increases taxes to finance welfare spending; the other is based on a new approach – the Entrepreneurial State – in which the profits of innovations developed by public R&D companies are used to finance welfare programs. The results point out the advantages and drawbacks of different strategies and show that the optimal policy strategy largely depends on the policy maker’s preferences regarding the income distribution.