Abstract
The importance of innovation for economic performance and competitiveness, whatever the level of analysis adopted, is uncontroversial. Yet little is known about the relationship between innovation and well-being, welfare, and social justice. However, extensive research in the economics of innovation has adopted a narrow definition of social welfare, which focuses on economic performance and material well-being, and primarily disregards the distributional impacts of innovation. Based on this context, our research question is how innovation policy affects inequalities and well-being. It aims to characterize how innovation policy affects inequalities and well-being. This research methodology is a systematic literature review based on four major concepts: Innovation policy, welfare, well-being, and social justice. The methods applied were Sankey analysis, multiple correspondence analysis using the R tool called bibliometrix and content analysis based on the 27-paper selected for this study. As result, we have found significant categories, such as: Dynamics of innovation, innovation and technology transfer for inclusive structural change, Innovation policy for well-being and inclusive social welfare, knowledge production, participatory and inclusive approaches, and sustainability transitions.