Innovation and the Evolution of Industries

Reviews / Votes

'This book offers welcome advancements to the understanding of industrial dynamics as innovation-driven evolutionary processes. Over the last forty years or so, major progress has been made both in the identification of relatively general 'stylized facts' of industrial evolution and in their account by means of evolutionary models. Much less has been done toward bringing formal theories to the specificities of particular industry histories. This is what this work does, using phenomenologically very detailed models as a sort of coherent thought experiment on the causal mechanisms, yielding the specific features of the histories of the computer, semiconductors and pharmaceutical industries. To be read by history-inclined scholars generally skeptical about any formalization. And to be read by modelers often weary of qualitative histories.' Giovanni Dosi, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa 'Four of the world's leading evolutionary economists have combined to build this new and exciting bridge between economic theory and history. Every scholar who is interested in innovation, research and development, competition, and industrial organization will want to cross this bridge. Many will find here important challenges for their future work in economic and business history as well as economics.' Louis Galambos, Johns Hopkins University 'The co-authors of this volume are pioneers in the development of 'history-friendly models' of the evolution of knowledge-intensive industries. This book extends and elaborates that work, enriching our understanding of the development of the computer, semiconductor, and pharmaceuticals industries. The volume is a major contribution to economics, strategy, and policy.' David C. Mowery, William A. and Betty H. Hasler Professor of New Enterprise, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley