Workshop in Pisa, Italy, 15-16 May 2010,
Conference organisers: Mariana Mazzucato and Luigi Orsenigo

NEW : Programme (and registration info) available on : http://www.open.ac.uk/ikd/events/innovation-and-inequality/

Organised by DIME, the Open University/IKD Centre (www.open.ac.uk/ikd), and the EC FP7 FINNOV project on Finance, Innovation and Growth (www.finnov-fp7.eu)
 
Speakers include: Carlota Perez, Bill Lazonick, Giovanni Dosi, Mary O'Sullivan, Benjamin Coriat and many others.
 
Registration deadline May 10, 2010 (information on registration on website above).
 
The workshop brings together innovation economists, economic historians and industrial economists to think creatively about the way that innovation and inequality co-evolve– and how this relationship has changed over the course of capitalism. While this theme was crucial in the analysis of Classical economists, it has been almost forgotten in subsequent studies of innovation and technological change. The observation of rising inequality across and within countries is beginning to resurrect this issue, in particular as it concerns the hypothesis of skill-biased technological change and the impact of a stronger IPR regime at the global level. Recent work has also begun to examine how the financing of R&D – particularly through venture capital and the stock market - may induce corporate strategies and bubbles which may contribute to rising inequality.

The view from an industry dynamics perspective is useful as the relationships above differ between sectors. The case of the bio-pharmaceutical industry is particularly significant and extreme in these respects because it widens the perspective from inequality in income and wealth distribution to other fundamental dimensions of well-being like health and 'access' (to innovations).

We hope the presentations and discussions will motivate researchers to think more systematically about a Schumpeterian approach to inequality.
Thank you,
Mariana Mazzucato (m.mazzucato@open.ac.uk) and Luigi Orsenigo (luigi.orsenigo@unibocconi.it)