Innovation and inequalities
Résumé
Innovation can affect inequalities in many ways – increasing some inequalities and decreasing others. An innovation can introduce a new good, improve the quality of existing goods, or lead to new ways of doing things. It can be produced by large firms, by small firms, by individuals working
in their garden shed, by the public sector or by charities or non-governmental agencies. The impact of any particular innovation on inequalities will depend importantly on who controls the property rights to exploit the innovation and what they decide to do with it. The introduction of an innovation can affect the power of different actors in a market, the way markets work, and the returns to different attributes of actors in the market. All of these factors and more will influence how innovation affects inequalities.