iOS app Android app More   Innovation Poses Risks for Older
Workers and Firms  Posted: 03/31/10 12:41 PM ET  Saying that
innovation poses significant risks might seem rather
counterintuitive. After all, innovation expands the productive
capacity of the economy by increasing output, consumption, and
wages. However, it also has a dark side that creates risks,
particularly for older businesses and workers.  Older workers
are often less able to adopt new technologies. Acquiring the
skills and knowledge necessary to keep up with the technological
frontier may be prohibitively difficult or economically
unappealing after a certain age. As a result, following periods
of above-average innovation activity, labor of older cohorts of
workers may become less valuable as they have to compete with
the newer generations of workers in the labor market. The same
effect can be seen with older firms. Innovation brings
competition, shrinking profit margins and adversely affecting
the stock market value of older firms.  So while i