Moody?s Analytics ? Economy.com:
Social capital matters
4 December 2017
New research from Raj Chetty and his Equality of Opportunity team shows a significant amount of inequality in innovation. Even controlling for ability, their results show that there is less patenting from low-income families, women and minorities. If these groups invented at the same rate as white men, total innovation in the U.S. would quadruple. This research adds to an increasing body of evidence that social capital is an important driver of inequality. The focus on innovation brings a new level importance to the debate; it suggests that uneven social capital and the inequality it produces matter for economic growth.
Related publications
‘Who becomes an inventor in America? The importance of exposure to innovation’, Alex Bell, Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Neviano Petkova and John Van Reenen, The Equality of Opportunity Project, December 2017
http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/assets/documents/inventors_paper.pdf