Income distribution and improving income distribution is one of the leading issues of economic policy and its importance is constantly rising. The variables determining the income distribution include not only demographic factors, unemployment, population, production, globalization and market structure, but also the level of technological development. It becomes difficult to ensure fairness in income distribution in the countries where the level of technological development is inadequate. By paying attention to technological development, countries aim to increase the efficiency of qualified/skilled labor force and so ensure the efficiency in production. The main purpose of the study is to examine the impact of innovation on income inequality for 23 emerging countries. Income inequality is defined as the function of GDP per capita, population, unemployment, labor force and innovation indicators by using the models that exist in the literature. In accordance with the literature, the Gini index is used as an indicator of income inequality while the number of patent applications, the number of research and development (R&D) employees, and the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP are used as an indicator of innovation. Variables covering the period 1995-2017 are taken from the World Bank World Development Indicators. The Panel Tobit Method is preferred in the study. According to the results of the analyzes, the patent applications of non-residents distort income inequality, whereas the patent applications of residents improve income inequality. While the number of R&D employees has a corrective effect on income distribution, the increase in the share of R&D expenditures in GDP is found to disrupt the income distribution.
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Subjects | Economics |
Journal Section | Research Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | September 30, 2020 |
Submission Date | January 19, 2020 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 11 Issue: 28 |