Kevin Gawora

Kevin Gawora

Economic Policy Analyst

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

(202) 524-4388

Kevin Gawora is an economic policy research analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Previously, he was a research analyst at the International Monetary Fund. Kevin holds a master’s degree in international economics and finance from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a double bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics from Occidental College.

Research Areas:

Recent Publications

January 19, 2021

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: In Japan, a 1 Percent Increase in Robot Adoption Due to Lower Prices Leads to a 0.28 Percent Increase in Employment

Automation’s effect on labor demand has long been seen by the public as negative. Japanese researchers challenged this perception when they examined robots’ impact on employment across a range of Japanese industries from 1978 to 2017.

January 11, 2021

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: A 1 Percent Increase in Mid-term Military R&D Funding Stimulates Increases Privately Financed R&D Expenditures by 0.11 to 0.14 Percent

Defense R&D spending can help to relax credit constraints on innovate sectors, increase profitability of spin-off projects, and foster entrepreneurship.

January 4, 2021

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: A 1 Percent Increase in the Use of Robots Eventually Leads to a 0.1 Percent Increase in Wages and a 0.06 Percent Increase in Employment

The effects of robots on wages and employment can be said to have a “U shape”—lowering wages and employment initially, but with a diminishing impact over time, and then driving higher wages and more employment.

December 21, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: 84 Percent Of Global Firms Plan To Accelerate Digitalization In The Next Five Years, and 50 Percent Plan to Increase Automation

With technologies like cloud computing and big data now more widespread and better understood, firms can discover new ways to leverage them, leading to increased productivity growth.

December 16, 2020

United States Needs to Expand Domestic STEM Doctorates

Congress should at least double the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program (currently funded at $285 million), but limit the additional funds only for true STEM degrees, rather than fields like psychology, economics, and sociology, which NSF wrongly defines as STEM.

December 14, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: One Dollar of Automation Spending Increases Sales by 37 Cents and Raises Profits by 78 Cents While Driving Down Consumer Prices by 5 Cents

If automation proves to have a more positive impact on employment than once previously thought, then it could greatly alter the national conversation surrounding workforce development and technological innovation.

December 7, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: Artificial Intelligence Can Save Pharmaceutical Companies Almost $54 Billion in R&D Costs Each Year

AI can reduce the time it takes to synthesize and screen new drugs by 40 percent to 50 percent, reducing costs in those parts of the research process by as much as $26 billion annually.

November 30, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: The EU has slashed funding for its Horizon Europe scientific research initiative by 14 percent

Research spending unfortunately is seen by many as an “add-on” rather than an essential economic driver, so it is not prioritized in times of crisis such as the pandemic, even though research is crucial to developing a COVID vaccine.

November 23, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: Chinese R&D Spending Rose More Than 10 Percent in 2019

Recent years have seen China increase its spending on basic and applied research, which is likely to drive its innovation going forward and could be a large factor behind an eventual Chinese leadership role in global innovation.

November 16, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: The Share of Global Research Dedicated to U.N. Development Goals Tripled Over the Past 20 Years

A report by the tech research company Digital Science found that, in 2019, 500,000 publications or 10 percent of the world’s total, related to the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations.

November 9, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: A Dollar of Government Investment in Innovation Produces $4 to $20 in Social Returns

A new study finds that every dollar invested in innovation returns four dollars in social benefits.

November 2, 2020

Fact of the Week: Fact of the Week: Firms Are More Than 3 Percent More Likely to Sell Technology to Other Firms If the Technology Hasn’t Yet Been Commercialized

The study found that tech transfer across firms can lead to increased entrepreneurship; technologies that are seen as unprofitable by one can be used by others to create new ideas and industries.