The economics of creative destruction : new research on themes from Aghion and Howitt

"Leading social scientists explore pressing issues-monopoly and inequality, growth and innovation, climate change and fraying social safety nets-through the lens of creative destruction. Far more than a theory of capitalist dynamics, creative destruction proves an important idea for illuminating a wide range of social and political challenges"-- Provided by publisher Contents 7 Foreword 11 Introduction 17 PART I Overview 33 Chapter 1 Innovation and Growth Policy 33 Chapter 2 Creative Destruction and Economic Growth 37 PART II Competition and International Trade 59 Chapter 3 Product Market Competition, Creative Destruction, and Innovation 59 Chapter 4 Innovation, Antitrust Enforcement, and the Inverted-U 93 Chapter 5 Innovation Networks and Business-Stealing 120 Chapter 6 Trade and Innovation 149 PART III Inequality and Labor Markets 191 Chapter 7 Inequality and Creative Destruction 191 Chapter 8 Labor Market Dynamics When Ideas Are Harder to Find 237 Chapter 9 When Workers’ Skills Become Unbundled: Some Empirical Consequences for Sorting and Wages 269 PART IV Growth Measurement and Growth Decline 299 Chapter 10 Productivity Slowdown: Reducing the Measure of Our Ignorance 299 Chapter 11 Productivity Growth and Real Interest Rates: A Circular Relationship 322 Chapter 12 The Depth and Breadth of the Step-by- Step Innovation Framework 348 PART V The Environment: Green Innovation and Climate Change 381 Chapter 13 Harnessing Creative Destruction to the Tackling of Climate Change: Purpose, Pace, Policy 381 Chapter 14 Science as Civil Society: Implications for a Green Transition 414 Chapter 15 Climate Policy in Need of Plan B 427 Chapter 16 Directed Technical Change and Environmental Economics 451 PART VI Development and Political Economy 491 Chapter 17 Creative Destruction, Distance to Frontier, and Economic Development 491 Chapter 18 Socialism, Capitalism, State Capitalism, and Innovation 536 Chapter 19 Lobbying behind the Frontier 549 Chapter 20 Barriers to Creative Destruction: Large Firms and Nonproductive Strategies 574 PART VII Finance 603 Chapter 21 Finance and Growth: Firm Heterogeneity and Creative Destruction 603 Chapter 22 Creative Destruction, Finance, and Firm Dynamics 627 PART VIII Taxation 657 Chapter 23 Taxation, Innovation, and Economic Growth 657 Chapter 24 The Effects of Taxes on Innovation: Theory and Empirical Evidence 669 PART IX Science 699 Chapter 25 Of Academics and Creative Destruction: Startup advantage in the Process of Innovation 699 Chapter 26 Creative Destruction or Destructive Creation? A Prelude to the Industrial Revolution 730 Conclusion: The Promise of the Creative Destruction Paradigm 752 Index 769

A stellar cast of economists examines the roles ofcreative destruction in addressing today's most important politicaland social questions. Inequality is rising, growth isstagnant while rents accumulate, the environment is suffering, andthe COVID-19 pandemic exposed every crack in the systems of globalcapitalism. How can we restart growth? Can our societies be madefairer? Editors Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen assemble aworld-leading group of social scientists and theorists to considerthese questions and, in particular, how ideas about the economicsof creative destruction may help solve the problems we face. Mostclosely associated with Joseph Schumpeter, formalized by PhilippeAghion and Peter Howitt in the 1990s, the idea of innovation ascreative destruction has become foundational in economics, reachinginto almost every corner of the discipline-both theoretically andempirically. Now, at a time of rapid and disorienting change, is anopportune moment to pull the disparate strands of research togetherto assess what has been learned and continue an intellectualproject that can aid economic decision-making in the decades tocome. The cutting-edge work in The Economics of CreativeDestruction focuses on innovation and growth. Contributorsoffer illuminating insights into monopoly and inequality, thenature of the social safety net, climate change, and the ups anddowns of regulation. Collectively, they suggest that governance hasa role to play in capitalism, maximizing its benefits andminimizing its risks.

A stellar cast of economists examines the roles of creative destruction in addressing today's most important political and social questions. Inequality is rising, growth is stagnant while rents accumulate, the environment is suffering, and the COVID-19 pandemic exposed every crack in the systems of global capitalism. How can we restart growth? Can our societies be made fairer? Editors Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen assemble a world-leading group of social scientists and theorists to consider these questions and, in particular, how ideas about the economics of creative destruction may help solve the problems we face. Most closely associated with Joseph Schumpeter, formalized by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt in the 1990s, the idea of innovation as creative destruction has become foundational in economics, reaching into almost every corner of the discipline--both theoretically and empirically. Now, at a time of rapid and disorienting change, it is an opportune moment to pull the disparate strands of research together to assess what has been learned and continue an intellectual project that can aid economic decision-making in the decades to come. The cutting-edge work in The Economics of Creative Destruction focuses on innovation and growth. Contributors offer illuminating insights into monopoly and inequality, the nature of the social safety net, climate change, and the ups and down of regulation. Collectively, they suggest that governance has a role to play in capitalism, maximizing its benefits and minimizing its risks.