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Income Inequality and Technological Adoption

Author

Listed:
  • Marcelo Santos

    (Departamento de Gestão e Economia and CEFAGE-UBI)

  • Tiago Neves Sequeira

    (Departamento de Gestão e Economia and CEFAGE-UBI)

  • Alexandra Ferreira Lopes

Abstract

We relate technological adoption (of different technologies) with income inequality. We discovered that some technologies such as aviation, cell phones, electric production, internet, telephone, and TV are skill-complementary in raising inequality. We constructed standardized indexes of skill-complementary technological adoption for modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), older ICT, production and transport technologies. We found strong evidence that older ICT and transport technologies (and less frequently modern ICT) tend to increase inequality. Additionally, we discovered that results are much stronger in rich countries than in poor ones. Our results are quite robust to a series of changes in specifications, estimators, samples, and measurement of technology adoption. These results may bring insights to the design of incentive-schemes for technology adoption.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcelo Santos & Tiago Neves Sequeira & Alexandra Ferreira Lopes, 2014. "Income Inequality and Technological Adoption," CEFAGE-UE Working Papers 2014_10, University of Evora, CEFAGE-UE (Portugal).
    • Handle: RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2014_10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Manuela Magalhães & Tiago Sequeira & Óscar Afonso, 2019. "Industry Concentration and Wage Inequality: a Directed Technical Change Approach," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 457-481, July.
    2. Ibtissem Aribi & Lobna Ben Hassen, 2021. "Phases Of Economic Development In An Endogenous Growth Model With Innovation And Education," Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 6(2), pages 78-87, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Technological adoption.;

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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