Carlota Pérez

Carlota Pérez is a Venezuelan-British scholar known for her work on the relationship between technological change, financial capital, and long waves of development. Her research links long-term patterns in innovation with shifts in finance, industrial organization, and public policy, emphasizing episodes such as the Industrial Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution, and the Information Age. Pérez has advised international organizations and national governments on strategies for technological diffusion and inclusive growth and has taught at major institutions in Europe and Latin America.

Early life and education

Born in Caracas, Pérez completed undergraduate studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela before moving to the United Kingdom for graduate work at the University of Sussex. During her formative years she was influenced by scholars from the Cambridge School of economics, interactions with researchers at the Science Policy Research Unit, and exposure to debates at the Royal Society and British Academy. Her education combined influences from Latin American developmentalists, European historians of technology, and British economists such as members of the Cambridge School and the Schumpeterian tradition.

Academic career and positions

Pérez has held academic and advisory positions at institutions including the London School of Economics, the University of Sussex, the Institute of Development Studies, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). She has collaborated with policy bodies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and regional organizations like the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. She has served as visiting professor at universities including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Cambridge University, and the European University Institute. Pérez has also been involved with national agencies in Chile, Spain, Portugal, and Venezuela on industrial and innovation policy.

Technological revolutions and economic theory

Pérez is best known for extending the work of Joseph Schumpeter and the notion of long waves (or Kondratiev waves) by identifying patterns she terms "techno-economic paradigms." She maps successive clusters of innovations—such as the steam engine era, the railways, the electrification and chemical industry phase, the automobile and oil regime, and the information technology and telecommunications revolution—onto phases of investment, speculative finance, and institutional change. Her framework highlights interactions among firms like General Electric, Standard Oil, Ford Motor Company, and IBM; financial episodes involving entities such as the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and episodes like the Great Depression and the Dot-com bubble; and policy responses exemplified by the New Deal, Bretton Woods Conference, and later neoliberal reforms. Pérez argues that each technological revolution undergoes deployment phases requiring complementary infrastructures, regulatory frameworks, and organizational forms, influenced by actors including multinational corporations, central banks, and labour movements such as the Trade Union Congress and American Federation of Labor.

Major publications and ideas

Her major works include a seminal book that synthesizes historical case studies linking innovation clusters to financial cycles and structural change, incorporating evidence from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Pérez has published on topics ranging from industrial policy to green transitions, drawing on examples like South Korea's catch-up strategy, the Marshall Plan reconstruction, and the Asian Financial Crisis. She emphasizes "creative destruction" inspired by Schumpeter while adding institutional and policy levers that enable broad-based adoption, referencing institutions such as the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, national development banks like KfW and BNDES, and initiatives like the European Green Deal. Her recent scholarship engages with contemporary debates on climate policy, pointing to links between technological trajectories like renewable energy systems and past mass-consumption revolutions such as the post-war economic boom.

Awards and recognition

Pérez has received recognition from academic and policy communities, including honorary degrees and awards from universities and think tanks across Europe and Latin America. Her advisory roles with organizations such as UNCTAD, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Economic Forum, and national ministries have been cited in discussions at venues like the United Nations General Assembly and conferences of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She is frequently invited to speak at forums including the Royal Society, the Palgrave Macmillan lecture series, and policy workshops hosted by the European Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Category:Venezuelan economists Category:Innovation economists