m01-m06 Flashcards
What is innovation according to Schumpeter?
Competition from the new which strikes not at margins of profits of existing firms but at their foundations -> innovation as destruction
What is innovation according to Baumol?
In capitalism, innovation becomes mandatory. All economic growth since 18th century due to innovation. -> innovation as competitiveness & growth
What are innovations according to Hauschildt?
new products or processes that differ significantly from what existed before
What is innovation according to Porter?
New way of doing things that is commercialized
What is innovation according to Afuah?
Adoption of ideas that are new to the adopting organization
What are the steps of innovation? (Hauschildt)
idea > discovery > research > development > invention > market launch (order may vary, borders fluid)
What is the difference between invention & innovation?
Innovation adds market launch
What are the two dimensions innovations can be categorized by?
needs (newness for market) (marketing) & newness of solution (R&D)
How is R&D distributed? (Who executes/pays?)
Concentrated on large companies, basic research funded by government
What is the principal-agent problem?
Agent is hired by principal to execute task but has contrary interests.
What is the interface problem?
Concerns are not mentioned or not listened to -> communication issues
Is Innovation an output or a process?
both
What are long-term patterns of technological change?
- cumulative & evolutionary
- most innovations = new combinations of existing technologies
- not smooth, automatic process
- some revolutionary changes can lead to waves of change
What are Kondratiev long-waves?
Connecting new pervasive technologies, waves of change/innovation, thought to be 50 yrs but becoming shorter
How does one technology produce outcome with ongoing development/time?
S-curve
1) Emergence
2) Rapid improvement
3) Declining improvement
4) Maturity (converging to limit of technology)
model has of course limitations, is not law of nature
How do two s-curves behave in relation to each other?
Often, when one technology reaches limit, other technology has developed to max movement in background and overtakes.
What problems of established companies can S-Curves solve?
- Current tech is over-estimated
- R&D budgets are linked to revenues (avoiding overspending or giving up)
- Misinterpretation of market signals due to biased attitute
- Lack of flexibility
- > can help to determine when to switch to new technology
How does the amount of firms in the market develop with the PLC?
Phase 1: performance (entries > exits)
Phase 2: differentiation (entries = exits)
Phase 3: price (entries < exits)
What categories does Rogers Adoption/Innovation curve know?
Innovators Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggards
Adoption Curve: What characterizes Innovators?
venturesome, active information seekers, able to cope with high degree of uncertainty
Adoption Curve: What characterizes Early adopters?
often opinion leaders, more locally integrated than innovators, sought by change agents as “local missionary”, can give stamp of approval on new idea
Adoption Curve: What characterizes Early majority?
interact a lot with their peers, rarely opinion leader, 1/3 of all members
Adoption Curve: What characterizes Late Majority?
adoption may be economically necessary or result of peer pressure, system must favor innovation
Adoption Curve: What characterizes Laggards?
near isolates in social network, past is point of reference, limited resources, tend to be suspicious of innovations and change agents
How can adoption behavior (in N= people who have adopted sth) be modelled?
growth rate dN/dt = N(t-1) * (Nmax-N(t))
-> first part “the more people that have sth, the more people will get it”, second part “when coming closer to max amount of people, growth gets slower”
What are technology producing sectors according to Pavitt?
Science-based (pharma, biotech) Specialized suppliers (software, tech consultancies) Scale intensive (bulk chemicals, electronics, automotive)
What are technology using sectors accrding to Pavitt?
Scale intensive (bulk chemicals, electronics, automotive) Supplier dominated (traditional services & manufacturing, eg pizza store) information intensive (banking, retailing, travel)
What are core drivers of innovation according to economists?
cost (whoever has lowest cost will do it) and benefits (whoever gains the most will do it) of innovation
What kind of companies are engaging more in innovation according to Schumpeter?
Arguments for both, small, entrepreneurial and large firms can be made. Changed his mind.
Radical price reduction by one firm, what happens if ex ante perfect competition exists (Arrow)?
ex ante: perfect competition, all firms have marginal cost of c -> prices driven down to c -> no firm makes profits
ex post: innovator has lower marginal cost c’ -> can charge price below c -> monopoly
Radical price reduction by one firm, what happens if ex ante company has monopoly (Arrow)?
ex post company still has monopoly but cannibalizes profits it had with old monopoly product.
Radical price reduction by one firm, what happens if ex ante company is social planner (Arrow)?
ex post stays social planner
What is a social planner?
Main goal: economic welfare. The more people can get a product without damaging company, the better. Sells for marginal cost.
Order ex ante perfect competition, social planner and monopolist from low to high after how much a company is willing to pay for innovation.
monopolist
firm in perfect competition
social planner
What is the efficiency effect and how does it influence innovation?
If innovation is only slightly better than existing products, it is more attractive to remain in monopoly than to become part of duopoly.
What is the cannibalization effect and how does it influence innovation?
If innovation is radical or drastic and supplants existing products, by innovation same company would loose profits from existing product.
According to empirical studies, does innovation come from new market entrants or existing firms?
New market entrants
What characterizes social benefits from innovation?
- typically exceed private benefits of innovator
- in principle this results in market failure
- scope for public policy intervention
What are liabilities of newness?
Problems new firms face and that result in them having bigger failure rates vs older firms.
What are advantages of new firms?
Organization related: flexible company structure, no path dependence -> open to pursue new approaches
HR-related: can hire people that exactly match the task at hand, averagely have more flexible employees
What are liabilities of smallness?
smallness empirically leads to higher failure rates (new firms often small)
What are advantages of smallness to firms?
Flexibility, short ways within company, fast decision-making, job satisfaction typically higher
What kind of innovation do leading firms often have problems with?
Disruptive Technologies/Innovations because they focus too much on existing costumers