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Assessing the Institutions-Innovation Channel within the Inequality-Growth Nexus

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Abstract

The present paper assesses the interactions between innovation and economic institutions within the context of the inequality-growth nexus. By carrying out fixed effects estimations on a cross-country panel, we find that both institutional quality and innovations improve economic growth at the expense of income equality. We show that the marginal effects of innovations on growth and inequality diminish as institutions increase in quality, and the effects of institutions can be influenced by level of innovations. This indicates that while institutions and innovations can be inequality-inducing, their interactions dampen the effect. Similarly, both variables positively affect growth but their interactions are negative. More importantly, we note a series of transitory interactive effects on growth which show property right protection as the principal growth-enhancing institutions in earlier stages of development, and broader institutional quality in later stages. These results are verified and reinforced by GMM and IV estimations, the latter of which uses judicial independence as an instrument, as well as additional robustness tests.

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  • Sun, Yang & Easaw, Joshy & Logothetis, Vassilis, 2023. "Assessing the Institutions-Innovation Channel within the Inequality-Growth Nexus," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2023/21, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2023/21
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    income inequality; economic growth; institutions; entrepreneurship; innovation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C36 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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