September 2023

IZA DP No. 16483: Destructive Digital Entrepreneurship

This paper provides a selective overview of destructive digital entrepreneurship. The concept is defined and elaborated in the context of the digital revolution post World War II. It is pointed out that the digital revolution was captured by the corporate sector: the incentives for unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship to subvert the digital revolution, was just too strong. Ten subsequent digital dystopias - adverse outcomes resulting from destructive digital entrepreneurship - are discussed. These are digital platform capitalism, tech exceptionalism, the surveillance state, the digital poorhouse, digital divides, the loss of sense-making, digital addiction, digital depression, cybercrime, and awful AI. The paper concludes by exploring how institutional and regulatory frameworks can best reduce the risks from destructive digital entrepreneurship.