Technological and Socio-Economic Effects of Fifth and Sixth Kondratieff Waves

After the industrial revolution, capitalist economies have entered the process of rapid growth. but this growth process is not steady. rapid expansion periods are usually followed by crisis periods which cause social welfare to fall and poverty. the kondratieff waves, which lasted for about 50 years, explain this fluctuating development process in relation to technological developments. the aim of this work is to explain the structural and institutional transformations created by the kondratieff waves; to examine the effects of the expected sixth wave. for this purpose, the great surge of development approach introduced by carlota perez is used. the most important outcome of this study is the foresight that the beginning of the sixth kondratieff wave will deepen the problems of unemployment, income distribution inequality and the breakdown of interrelation between finance and production. it is expected that the impacts of information technologies will be felt more in developing countries, today and in near future. this situation is likely to trigger start of fifth kondratieff wave in developing countries that may raise aforementoned problems already existing in many developing countries. therefore, the onset of the fifth wave will aggravate existing problems. this prediction is another result of the article.