Inequality

Priya Vora and Jonathan Dolan examine whether current measurement tools suffice in capturing the positive development impact of digital infrastructure and provide a lens through which to assess its potential downside risks.

Kay McGowan and Priya Vora examine digital policy trends that points to pathways for multilateral coordination for digital development for low- and middle-income countries.

George Ingram and Meagan Dooley share principles of good digital government.

George Ingram and Meagan Dooley examine the benefits of digital government service adoption in developing countries.

George Ingram outlines how the U.S. could bridge the digital divide between nations and people in a way that also advances its economic and strategic interests.

Landry Signé and Chris Heitzig analyze the major technological trends and demographic shifts creating opportunities in African countries and how the U.S. can best engage.

Louise Fox and Landry Signé examine how new technologies will affect employment and productivity in Africa.

Louise Fox and Landry Signé review the main productivity issues currently preventing transformation of African agricultural, industrial, and service sectors, and ask how 4IR technologies might address them.

On July 28, 2021, Landry Signé testified on U.S. trade and investment in Africa before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy.

Landry Signé and Stephen Almond outline how regulatory reform offices can take a more innovation-enabling approach to regulation across government.

Acha Leke, Landry Signé, and Vera Songwe offer strategies for Africa’s policymakers to approach the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for a “great reset” of their economies.

Emerging technology is having a powerful impact on the security and stability of African states. Yet the digital revolution’s ultimate legacy will be determined not by technology, but by how it is used. African countries that take advantage of the opportunities and limit the risks inherent in emerging technology may achieve greater peace and prosperity. Yet many countries could be left behind. As the continent recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, its leaders face a choice between harnessing emerging technology to improve government effectiveness, increase transparency and foster inclusion, or as a tool of repression, division, and conflict.

On April 11, Brookings and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) held a seminar at Brookings on “Productivity in a time of change.”

On June 14, the Global Economy and Development programs at Brookings hosted an online event on technological change and public policy.

Zia Qureshi considers how to reduce economic inequality in the digital era.

David Autor, Kaushik Basu, Zia Qureshi, and Dani Rodrik consider technology’s implications for inequality and how public policy can build inclusive prosperity.

Flavio Calvino and Chiara Criscuolo navigates the paradox of slowing productivity growth in spite of rapid technological progress and the spread of digital technologies.

Harry J. Holzer examines the implications of automation for workers, jobs and wages and discusses possible policy implications

On January 20, 2022, the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, together with Korea Development Institute (KDI), hosted an online event to discuss how technology is reshaping economies and public policy agendas. Brief presentations on the books were followed by two panel discussions.

Zia Qureshi introduces a new book that examines the implications of the unfolding digital metamorphosis for economies and public policy agendas.

On December 8, the Brookings Global Forum on Democracy and Technology held a panel discussion to address new technologies' effects on economic inequality and implications for democratic governance.

The design of digital services threatens to exacerbate inequalities in digital access.

Rapid technological change—likely to accelerate because of the COVID-19 pandemic—is reshaping economies and how they grow. But change also causes disruption, creates winners and losers, and produces social stress. This book examines the challenges of digital transformation and suggests how creative policies can make it more productive and inclusive.

Zia Qureshi examines the promise and challenge of digital technologies for productivity growth and inequality.