Innovation and Growth with Rich and Poor Consumers

This paper studies the impact of income inequality on the level of innovative activity in a model where innovations result in quality improvements. The market for quality goods is characterized by a natural oligopoly with two types of consumers – rich and poor. In general, we find that for reasons of strategic price setting a more equal distribution is favourable for innovation incentives. This is consistent with empirical evidence, suggesting that countries with a more equal distribution have grown faster.