Handbook on Frugal Innovation
Published on 25. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
444 pages
978-1-0353-6261-5 (ISBN)
Description
This pioneering Handbook details the origins of the concept of frugal innovation, its emergence as an academic field of interest, and the driving forces behind it. It presents new empirical evidence and critical perspectives on what frugal innovation entails, from a range of disciplines including science and engineering, humanities, and the social sciences.
Analysing case studies on frugal innovation from across the globe, this Handbook assesses the role of innovation in addressing societal challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. Chapters examine key topics in the field, covering gender as a lens for frugal innovation, managing frugal innovation for sustainable development, design and engineering in frugal product formation, and the global markets for frugal innovation policies. Contributors pay specific attention to the role of technology as an enabler for frugal innovation, and the institutional and social contexts in which it takes place.
Providing a comprehensive overview of frugal innovation, this Handbook will be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of development economics, business and management studies and organisational innovation. It will also be beneficial for policymakers and government officials interested in perspectives on innovation that could be instrumental in the formation and implementation of innovation policies.
Analysing case studies on frugal innovation from across the globe, this Handbook assesses the role of innovation in addressing societal challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. Chapters examine key topics in the field, covering gender as a lens for frugal innovation, managing frugal innovation for sustainable development, design and engineering in frugal product formation, and the global markets for frugal innovation policies. Contributors pay specific attention to the role of technology as an enabler for frugal innovation, and the institutional and social contexts in which it takes place.
Providing a comprehensive overview of frugal innovation, this Handbook will be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of development economics, business and management studies and organisational innovation. It will also be beneficial for policymakers and government officials interested in perspectives on innovation that could be instrumental in the formation and implementation of innovation policies.
Reviews / Votes
'With an impressive line-up of diverse contributors from Latin America to Asia, from post-docs to senior academics, from engineers to social scientists, and from practitioners to public policy shapers, this Handbook impressively covers a wide range of historical and modern perspectives on frugal innovation. For anyone looking to advance their own research into this topic, this Handbook would be an excellent starting point. I have already highly recommended it to my PhD students.' -- Yasser Bhatti, Oxford University, UK 'As we confront the growing pressures of resource scarcity and sustainability challenges across the globe, frugal innovation becomes a valuable lens to explore the types of solutions that are needed. This book captures the complexities of frugal innovation and highlights the value of innovations that emerge from constrained environments, mainly in the Global South. A must-read.' -- Erika Kraemer-Mbula, University of Johannesburg, South Africa 'The Handbook on Frugal Innovation is a truly remarkable achievement. Expertly edited by Andre Leliveld, Saradindu Bhaduri, Peter Knorringa, and Cees van Beers, it is breath-taking in conception and execution. The range of topics covered, the list of contributors, and the quality of research writing that underlies everything is peerless. It is a must read for students and practitioners of business more broadly and innovation in particular.' -- Jaideep Prabhu, Cambridge Judge Business School, UK 'The Handbook on Frugal Innovation is a must read for all of those concerned with the trajectory of innovation. It provides a valuable and wide-ranging mix of contributions focusing on the history of ideas, the relevance of frugal innovations to innovation theory and development policy, and the implications for the management of innovation. It is truly collaborative and impressive book.' -- Raphael Kaplinsky, University of Sussex, and Open University, UKMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-6261-5 (9781035362615)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Andre Leliveld, formerly Senior Researcher, African Studies Centre Leiden, Leiden University, and Co-leader, International Centre for Frugal Innovation, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities, the Netherlands, Saradindu Bhaduri, Associate Professor, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, and Coordinator, JNU-ICFI Transdisciplinary Research Cluster on Frugality Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, Peter Knorringa, Professor of Private Sector and Development, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Academic Director of the International Centre for Frugal Innovation, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities and Cees van Beers, Professor of Innovation Economics and Management, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, and Co-leader, International Centre for Frugal Innovation, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities, the Netherlands
Content
Contents:
Preface xvii
Andre Leliveld, Saradindu Bhaduri, Peter Knorringa and Cees van Beers
1 Capturing frugal innovation: introduction to the Handbook on Frugal
Innovation 1
Andre Leliveld, Saradindu Bhaduri, Peter Knorringa and Cees van Beers
PART I INCLUDING FRUGAL INNOVATION THINKING IN
DISCIPLINARY DEBATES
2 Anchoring: a historical perspective on frugal innovation 28
Miguel John Versluys and Ineke Sluiter
3 Frugal innovation: some theoretical observations from
innovation-economic and social-entrepreneurial perspectives 43
Cees van Beers and Andre Leliveld
4 The apolitical framing of frugal innovation in the global south: beyond
the tales of scarcity, heroic inventors and techno-fixes 54
Mario Pansera
5 Frugality in innovation processes: a heuristics-based perspective from
the 'informal economy' 69
Saradindu Bhaduri, Ariane Agnes Corradi, Hemant Kumar and Fayaz Ahmad
Sheikh
PART II EMBEDDING FRUGAL INNOVATION IN
TRANSDISCIPLINARY THEMATIC DEBATES
6 Frugal innovation and sustainability: bringing together polarized views
from the state of the art 84
Stephanie Knizkov and Julia Arlinghaus
7 Frugal innovators as change agents in circular economy transitions 102
Jarkko Levaenen, Eugenia Rosca and Sukyung Park
8 A gender lens for frugal innovation 114
Saskia Vossenberg and Solange Hai
9 Governing frugal innovation for sustainable development: the hybrid domain 126
Balaji Parthasarathy and Yuko Aoyama
10 Frugal innovation and legitimacy 142
Greetje Schouten and Peter Knorringa
11 Fairness institutions for frugal innovation 154
Haye Hazenberg and Saradindu Bhaduri
PART III TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER
12 Value-sensitive design practices for frugal innovations 164
Neelke Doorn
13 The frugal design of a medical centrifuge: distributed production as
a frugal technology to increase access to medical devices in low- and
middle-income countries 176
Jan Carel Diehl, Temitope Agbana, G-Young Van, Ludo Hille Ris Lambers
and Samenjo Karl Heinz Tondo
14 Frugal engineering solutions for recovery of resources from wastewater 197
Pamela Ceron-Chafla and Ralph E.F. Lindeboom
15 Engineering capabilities for frugal innovations: the case of
a radiation-free cancer detection device 220
Christine Wimschneider and Nivedita Agarwal
16 Design and engineering for frugal product development 239
Balkrishna C. Rao
17 Frugality and jugaad in science: evidence from a research laboratory 249
Pankaj Sekhsaria
18 ICTs as frugal innovations: enabling new pathways towards refugee
self-reliance and resilience in fragile contexts? 262
Holly A. Ritchie
19 Frugal innovation and digital platforms 278
Erwin van Tuijl and Peter Knorringa
PART IV ACTORS, BUSINESS MODELS AND BLURRING BOUNDARIES
20 Lead markets, international business and frugal innovation 296
Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt
21 Frugal energy and the global markets of pico solar systems 313
Pascale Trompette and Celine Cholez
22 Frugal process innovation and local innovation systems - the case of
a small producers' cluster in northern Vietnam 330
Jaap Voeten
23 Frugal innovation: balancing between value capture and value creation 346
Rachel Howell
24 Frugal innovation in public service delivery: reflections from case
studies in Kenya 364
Elsie Onsongo
25 University-business cooperation for frugal innovation: a case study of
the University of Campinas 379
Bruno Brandao Fischer, Jose Guimon and Paola Ru?cker Schaeffer
26 University-driven frugal innovations 393
Marjolijn Dijksterhuis, Sara Grobbelaar and Robert Tijssen
Index
Preface xvii
Andre Leliveld, Saradindu Bhaduri, Peter Knorringa and Cees van Beers
1 Capturing frugal innovation: introduction to the Handbook on Frugal
Innovation 1
Andre Leliveld, Saradindu Bhaduri, Peter Knorringa and Cees van Beers
PART I INCLUDING FRUGAL INNOVATION THINKING IN
DISCIPLINARY DEBATES
2 Anchoring: a historical perspective on frugal innovation 28
Miguel John Versluys and Ineke Sluiter
3 Frugal innovation: some theoretical observations from
innovation-economic and social-entrepreneurial perspectives 43
Cees van Beers and Andre Leliveld
4 The apolitical framing of frugal innovation in the global south: beyond
the tales of scarcity, heroic inventors and techno-fixes 54
Mario Pansera
5 Frugality in innovation processes: a heuristics-based perspective from
the 'informal economy' 69
Saradindu Bhaduri, Ariane Agnes Corradi, Hemant Kumar and Fayaz Ahmad
Sheikh
PART II EMBEDDING FRUGAL INNOVATION IN
TRANSDISCIPLINARY THEMATIC DEBATES
6 Frugal innovation and sustainability: bringing together polarized views
from the state of the art 84
Stephanie Knizkov and Julia Arlinghaus
7 Frugal innovators as change agents in circular economy transitions 102
Jarkko Levaenen, Eugenia Rosca and Sukyung Park
8 A gender lens for frugal innovation 114
Saskia Vossenberg and Solange Hai
9 Governing frugal innovation for sustainable development: the hybrid domain 126
Balaji Parthasarathy and Yuko Aoyama
10 Frugal innovation and legitimacy 142
Greetje Schouten and Peter Knorringa
11 Fairness institutions for frugal innovation 154
Haye Hazenberg and Saradindu Bhaduri
PART III TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER
12 Value-sensitive design practices for frugal innovations 164
Neelke Doorn
13 The frugal design of a medical centrifuge: distributed production as
a frugal technology to increase access to medical devices in low- and
middle-income countries 176
Jan Carel Diehl, Temitope Agbana, G-Young Van, Ludo Hille Ris Lambers
and Samenjo Karl Heinz Tondo
14 Frugal engineering solutions for recovery of resources from wastewater 197
Pamela Ceron-Chafla and Ralph E.F. Lindeboom
15 Engineering capabilities for frugal innovations: the case of
a radiation-free cancer detection device 220
Christine Wimschneider and Nivedita Agarwal
16 Design and engineering for frugal product development 239
Balkrishna C. Rao
17 Frugality and jugaad in science: evidence from a research laboratory 249
Pankaj Sekhsaria
18 ICTs as frugal innovations: enabling new pathways towards refugee
self-reliance and resilience in fragile contexts? 262
Holly A. Ritchie
19 Frugal innovation and digital platforms 278
Erwin van Tuijl and Peter Knorringa
PART IV ACTORS, BUSINESS MODELS AND BLURRING BOUNDARIES
20 Lead markets, international business and frugal innovation 296
Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt
21 Frugal energy and the global markets of pico solar systems 313
Pascale Trompette and Celine Cholez
22 Frugal process innovation and local innovation systems - the case of
a small producers' cluster in northern Vietnam 330
Jaap Voeten
23 Frugal innovation: balancing between value capture and value creation 346
Rachel Howell
24 Frugal innovation in public service delivery: reflections from case
studies in Kenya 364
Elsie Onsongo
25 University-business cooperation for frugal innovation: a case study of
the University of Campinas 379
Bruno Brandao Fischer, Jose Guimon and Paola Ru?cker Schaeffer
26 University-driven frugal innovations 393
Marjolijn Dijksterhuis, Sara Grobbelaar and Robert Tijssen
Index