Page 77 - IJPS-9-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Relationship between population aging and innovativeness

support mechanisms. Therefore, paraphrasing Zuckerberg, Ethics approval and consent to participate
if youngsters are smarter in the technological field, mature
entrepreneurs may be “wiser” in judging new market Not applicable.
opportunities thanks to their cumulated experience (see, Consent for publication
among others, Ruiu & Breschi, 2019; Kitchell, 1997).
Not applicable.
A limitation of our work stems from using patent
applications as a proxy of innovation activities. Indeed, Availability of data
a patent does not necessarily represent a commercially
exploited innovation, and the submitted applications can All the data used in this paper are taken from several public
turn out to be unsuccessful. In any case, we believe that this sources. The final dataset is available from the Harvard
variable is suited to capture the efforts exerted in a country Datavarse Repository at the following address: https://doi.
to introduce technological innovations. As pointed out by org/10.7910/DVN/KYJFQL
the literature, the negative attitude of older people toward References
technology is one of the most severe challenges that aging
populations should face soon. In addition, we did not consider Acemoglu, D., & Johnson, S. (2005). Unbundling institutions.
other forms of innovation, such as social innovations, in the Journal of Political Economy, 113(5):949-995.
current analysis. However, we believe that even though these https://doi.org/10.1086/432166
are important for development, this paper was oriented to Acs, Z.J., Desai, S., & Hessels, J. (2008). Entrepreneurship,
explain the possible consequences of aging on technological economic development and institutions. Small Business
progress. Therefore, offering reflections on other forms of Economics, 31(3):219-234.
innovation is out of the scope of this specific paper.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-008-9135-9
In conclusion, it is essential to advocate for a broader Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (1992). A model of growth through
interdisciplinary dialogue among social scientists, creative destruction. Econometrica, 60(2):323-351.
and specifically, strengthen the collaboration between
demographers, economists, sociologists, and business https://doi.org/10.2307/2951599
management scholars to maintain the innovativeness of Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (1997). Endogenous Growth Theory.
an aging population. We believe that the challenges and Cambridge, MA (USA): MIT Press.
opportunities a rapidly aging society presents require an Alho, J.M. (2008). Migration, fertility, and aging in stable
integrated approach that transcends disciplinary boundaries. populations. Demography, 45(3):641-650.
By bringing together expertise from various fields,
researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0021
the complex dynamics and implications of population aging. Angelini, D. (2021). Essays on Economics and Demography [PhD
Thesis]. Department of Economics, European University
Acknowledgments Institute.
None. https://doi.org/10.2870/005877
Arellano, M., & Bover, O. (1995). Another look at the instrumental
Funding variable estimation of error-components models. Journal of
None. Econometrics, 68(1):29-51.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(94)01642-D
Conflict of interest
Azoulay, P., Jones, B.F., Kim, D.J., & Miranda, J. (2020). Age and
The authors declare they have no competing interests. high-growth entrepreneurship. American Economic Review
Insights, 2(1):65-82.
Author contributions
https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20180582
Conceptualization: Gabriele Ruiu, Marco Breschi, Alessio
Fornasin Barro, R.J., & Lee, J.W. (2013). A new data set of educational
attainment in the world, 1950-2010. Journal of Development
Formal analysis: Gabriele Ruiu Economics, 104:184-198.
Methodology: Gabriele Ruiu
Writing – original draft: Gabriele Ruiu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.10.001
Writing – review & editing: Gabriele Ruiu, Marco Breschi, Baumol, W.J. (1968). Entrepreneurship in economic theory. The
Alessio Fornasin American Economic Review, 58(2):64-71.

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2023) 71 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0429