创新与顶层财富不平等

Innovation and Top Wealth Inequality

本文从理论和实证两个方面探究创新与顶层财富不平等之间的关系。理论上,本文首先构建刻画顶层财富不平等的帕累托分布,其次在内生增长理论的框架下推导出创新对顶层财富不平等的影响。一方面,创新通过提高资本回报率增加了顶层财富份额;另一方面,创新的颠覆性效应对现有企业形成负面冲击,从而降低了顶层财富份额。实证上,本文使用双向固定效应模型对世界40个主要经济体的面板数据进行回归。结果发现,创新对顶层财富不平等具有显著负向影响。该负向效应存在异质性,人均GDP越高的国家,该负向影响越弱。研究进一步揭示了创新对顶层财富不平等的作用机制。本文的研究结果意味着创新可以成为缓解顶层财富不平等的有效工具,这一发现对政策制定者具有重要意义。

This paper delves into the complex relationship between innovation and top wealth inequality by constructing a theoretical framework based on the Pareto distribution and employing empirical analysis through a two-way fixed effects model on data from 40 major economies.Theoretical models suggest that innovation can influence top wealth inequality through mechanisms such as changes in the return on capital and the likelihood of incumbent firms being disrupted.On one hand,innovation can exacerbate top wealth inequality by increasing the rate of return on capital.On the other hand,the disruptive impact of innovation can also challenge incumbent enterprises,thereby narrowing the wealth share at the top.Empirical findings from this study indicate a significant negative relationship between innovation and top wealth inequality,but the impact of innovation on the Gini coefficient of overall wealth and wealth-income ratio is not significant,highlighting the role of innovation in potentially reducing wealth concentration among the top tier.This relationship exhibits crosscountry heterogeneity,that is,in developed countries,the role of innovation in hindering the accumulation of wealth to the top groups has weakened.Additionally,the paper explores the mechanisms through which innovation may influence top wealth share obtained from the theoretical model,providing insights into the complex interplay between economic growth,technological change,and societal wealth structures.Our conclusion points towards the disruptive effect of innovation as a dominant force in shaping wealth inequality.Contrary to concerns that innovation might exacerbate wealth disparities,the findings suggest that innovation can serve as an effective tool for mitigating wealth concentration at the top.This has significant implications for policymakers,indicating that except for the traditional tax instruments,fostering competitive markets and encouraging innovation also could be efficient strategies for addressing wealth inequality.To be more specific,the government should further improve anti-monopoly legislation to fight against market monopoly forces;promote the development of the financial credit market and strive to address the financing difficulties faced by start-up enterprises;and also increase spending on education to explore and cultivate more high-quality talents.Based on the existing work of our paper,future research can further explore the heterogeneity of the negative relationship between innovation and top wealth inequality,and focus on discussing the impact of innovation on the social groups with different wealth levels and their underlying mechanisms.