Kenneth I. Carlaw

Dr. Kenneth I. Carlaw is a policy advisor to ITIF's Canada Centre for Innovation and Competitiveness. He is currently a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Carlaw received his Ph.D. (2000) from Simon Fraser University, Canada and has held lecturer and senior lecturer positions at the University of Canterbury.

Dr. Carlaw’s major research focuses are in evolutionary economics applied to historical technological change and sustainable long term economic growth and development. In particular he and his co-authors Richard Lipsey and Clifford Bekar have written extensively on the concept general purpose technologies (GPTs) and how they sustain the process of growth in human well being through millennia.

Dr. Carlaw and his colleagues have published a book on the subject titled Economic Transformations (2005) which was the co-winner of the 2006 Joseph Schumpeter Prize for the best work in evolutionary economics over the previous two years. He has also written extensively on productivity and economic policy related to innovation and technological change.