Research On The Influence Of Patents On Inequality

Technological innovation is the embodiment of a country's overall competitiveness and the source of economic growth.Since the reform and opening up,the number of patent applications and authorizations in China has been on the rise,the economy has achieved rapid growth and the income gap has also been expanding.From 1985 to 2016,the total amount of patent grants in China increased from 111 to 1.629 million,which led to a leapfrogged growth with the revision of the Patent Law.During this period,with the turning point in 2005,the Gini coefficient of our country has remained at a high level after its rapid growth.As outcome and driver of technological progress and innovation,does patent have an impact on inequality?This paper constructs a panel data of provinces(n=29)over the 1995~2015 period to verify the influence of patents on inequality.Results from fixed effects regressions indicate a positive and significant relationship between patents and inequality,a 1% grow of patents will increase the inequality by about 0.02%.This conclusion holds when using invention patents,utility model patents and design patents.The model is still robust when using regression with the sample of municipality removed,patents lagged one year,and the spillover tool variables with changed spatial matrix.Therefore,we suggest that innovation is positively associated with higher levels of inequality.On this basis,we suggest that the government should encourage patent innovation,build an innovation ecology,increase investment in education to improve the quality of labor force,strengthen democratic construction,create an equal opportunity environment,ensure the rights and interests of citizens,and promote the equalization of basic public services.