Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events

1989 ◽  
Vol 99 (394) ◽  
pp. 116 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Brian Arthur
Keyword(s):  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Competing Technologies

scholarly journals Apresentação: W. Brian Arthur - Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Newton Paulo Bueno
Keyword(s):  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Competing Technologies

Dificilmente haverá algum pesquisador em economia da tecnologia que não tenha, senão lido, ao menos ouvido falar do texto a seguir. Os conceitos originais – como trancamento de tecnologias (lock in), dependência de trajetória, múltiplos equilíbrios e pequenos eventos causando grandes consequências – as poderosas analogias com a biologia – ainda que aqui apenas esboçadas – e as óbvias implicações para o estudo de casos, como o do trancamento da tecnologia de teclados de máquinas de escrever e de computadores no padrão QWERTY, tornaram este texto uma referência obrigatória nos estudos sobre economia da tecnologia. Em grande parte porque é nesses estudos, que lidam com um objeto naturalmente complexo, que se tornam mais patentes as insuficiências da abordagem tradicional de equilíbrio da teoria econômica. Só isso, isto é, por haver despertado a imaginação e assim ter fornecido insights para as pesquisas de tanta gente, talvez já fosse suficiente para justificar incluí-lo na seção de idéias fundadoras deste periódico. Mas o texto mostra-se ainda mais importante se se considerarem as novas avenidas de pesquisa que ele abre. Uma exposição sumária da sua tese central e dos desdobramentos que ele gerou para os trabalhos seguintes de Arthur talvez ajude a focalizar um pouco mais as contribuições futuras que esse trabalho provavelmente dará para os estudos em economia da tecnologia.

scholarly journals Nota dos Editores

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Wilson Suzigan
Keyword(s):  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Economic Journal ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Competing Technologies

Neste número, a seção Ideias Fundadoras reedita um artigo clássico e referência obrigatória na área de economia da tecnologia: Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events, de W. Brian Arthur, originalmente publicado em 1989 na revista The Economic Journal, vol. 99 (394). Em excelente apresentação, Newton Paulo Bueno destaca a originalidade dos conceitos introduzidos por esse artigo – imediatamente incorporados ao jargão dessa área de estudos – bem como as contribuições representadas pelas analogias com a biologia, pelas implicações para estudos de casos de tecnologias específicas, e pelo questionamento implícito à abordagem tradicional de equilíbrio da teoria econômica, abrindo novas perspectivas em termos de pesquisa teórica e aplicada. 

scholarly journals DEPENDÊNCIA DA TRAJETÓRIA, IRREVERSIBILIDADE E O PAPEL DA HISTÓRIA NA SELEÇÃO DE TECNOLOGIAS

2004 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Luis Licha
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Lock In

O artigo apresenta uma breve revisão dos conceitos de retornos crescentes e path-dependency e de sua importância para a teoria econômica, tomando como ponto de partida as contribuições de Brian Arthur. São discutidas algumas aplicações desses conceitos na análise de problemas específicos, especialmente na área da inovação tecnológica. É também apresentada uma versão simplificada do clássico modelo de Arthur, onde se geram situações de irreversibilidade da trajetória quando existem retornos crescentes. Abstract The paper offers a brief review of the relevance of the concepts of increasing returns and path-dependency in economic theory, taking as a starting point the contributions of Brian Arthur. The paper discusses some applications of these concepts in the analysis of specific problems, particularly in the field of technological innovation. In addition, a simplified version of the model of Brian Arthur is presented, in which lock in emerges in the presence of increasing returns.

Nuclear Power Reactors: A Study in Technological Lock-in

1990 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Cowan
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Early Adoption ◽  
Large Head ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lock In ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Competing Technologies

Recent theory has predicted that if competing technologies operate under dynamic increasing returns, one, possibly inferior, technology will dominate the market. The history of nuclear power technology is used to illustrate these results. Light water is considered inferior to other technologies, yet it dominates the market for power reactors. This is largely due to the early adoption and heavy development by the U.S. Navy of light water for submarine propulsion. When a market for civilian power emerged, light water had a large head start, and by the time other technologies were ready to enter the market, light water was entrenched.

Understanding the impacts of increasing returns in the context of social media use

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Marchildon ◽  
Pierre Hadaya
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
Lock In

PurposeSocial networking sites (SNS) follow the same diffusion pattern and are subject to the same phenomena as other technologies (e.g. QWERTY keyboard, Microsoft Office and VHS) that were subject to increasing returns. Since they may lock-in users, increasing returns significantly alter the way a technology is used and should be managed. The purpose of this paper is thus to verify if SNS are subject to increasing returns and, if so, to better understand their impacts in this context.Design/methodology/approachA research model that combines path dependency theory (PDT) tenets with the push-pull-mooring (PPM) model of information technology (IT) switching was developed and tested with data collected from 416 SNS users via a field survey. Participants were voluntary students at a North American university enrolled in a compulsory undergraduate course in business administration. Partial least square analysis structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to validate our research model and test our hypotheses.FindingsResults show that SNS are subject to three forms of increasing returns: those stemming from device complementarity, learning and adaptive expectations. In addition, the findings show that increasing returns stemming from SNS use have the potential to lock-in SNS users by increasing their switching costs.Practical implicationsSNS users should be careful when using an SNS since such use can create a path that is self-reinforced and that can lock them due to the increasing returns it yields. SNS vendors/providers need to learn how to manage increasing returns if they want to foster continued use of their SNS and/or poach users from their competitors. Lastly, SNS regulators should revise or put in place new governance mechanisms since increasing returns, when properly leveraged, may undermine fair competition by allowing companies to lock-in users and lock-out competitors.Originality/valueThis study contributes to IS research by: (1) empirically demonstrating that increasing returns are present in the context of SNS use, (2) identifying increasing returns as key antecedents of user switching costs, (3) validating a theoretical framework that allows for the appraisal of PDT tenets in a variance model and (4) instantiating PDT tenets at the individual level.

Pfadabhängigkeit ist nicht gleich Pfadabhängigkeit! Wider den impliziten Konservatismus eines gängigen Konzepts / Not All Path Dependence Is Alike – A Critique of the “Implicit Conservatism” of a Common Concept

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Beyer
Keyword(s):  
Path Dependence ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Common Concept ◽  
Lock In

ZusammenfassungDas Konzept der Pfadabhängigkeit hat sich zu einem der meist genutzten Erklärungsansätze der sozialwissenschaftlichen und ökonomischen Forschung entwickelt. Die Stabilitätsneigung pfadabhängiger Prozesse wird hierbei in der Regel als ausgesprochen hoch eingestuft. Im Zusammenhang mit Pfadabhängigkeit ist vielfach auch vom institutionellen „lock-in“ die Rede, was die Assoziation nahe legt, dass weitreichende Pfadabweichungen oder Pfadwechsel als Ausnahmefälle betrachtet werden können. Der Beitrag unterzieht die vermeintlich allgemein gegebene Stabilitätsneigung pfadabhängiger Prozesse einer kritischen Prüfung. Die in der Literatur vorfindbaren Differenzen in der Begründung von Pfadabhängigkeiten deuten darauf hin, dass verschiedene kontinuitätssichernde Mechanismen wirksam sein können, wenn von Pfadabhängigkeit die Rede ist („increasing returns“, Komplementarität, Sequenzen etc.). Da die Mechanismen in unterschiedlicher Weise für grundlegenden Wandel anfällig sind, kann der Begriff der Pfadabhängigkeit nur als bedingt erklärungskräftig angesehen werden. Die ergänzende Benennung des jeweils zugrunde liegenden kontinuitätssichernden Mechanismus’ ist demnach geboten, wenn der empirische Wert einer Aussage über ein an sich belangloses, weil immer zutreffendes „history matters“ hinausgehen soll. Mit der Identifizierung von Mechanismen treten Chancen für intendierte Richtungswechsel ins Blickfeld der Betrachtung, womit auch einem impliziten Konservatismus des Pfadabhängigkeitstheorems entgegengewirkt werden kann.

scholarly journals Showing the path to path dependence: the habitual path

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeki Sarigil
Keyword(s):  
Path Dependence ◽  
Instrumental Rationality ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political World ◽  
Distinct Mechanism ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Logics Of Action

This article investigates the conceptual and theoretical implications of the logic of habit for the path-dependence approach. In the existing literature, we see two different logics of action associated with two distinct models of path dependence: the logic of consequences (instrumental rationality) is linked with utilitarian paths (i.e. increasing returns) and the logic of appropriateness (normative rationality) constitutes normative paths (normative lock-in). However, this study suggests that despite its popularity, the path-dependence approach remains underspecified owing to its exclusion or neglect of the logic of habit, which constitutes a distinct mechanism of reproduction or self-reinforcement in the institutional world. This article, therefore, introduces the notion of the ‘habitual path’ as a different model of path dependence. Although the idea of the habitual path is complementary with the existing models, owing to its distinctive notions of agency and mechanisms of path reproduction, it offers a different interpretation of continuity or regularity. Thus, by enriching the path-dependence approach, the notion of the habitual path would contribute to our comprehension of continuities and discontinuities in the political world.

Self-sacrifice for in-group's history: A diachronic perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Babińska ◽  
Michal Bilewicz
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Emotional Events ◽  
Reciprocal Process ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe problem of extended fusion and identification can be approached from a diachronic perspective. Based on our own research, as well as findings from the fields of social, political, and clinical psychology, we argue that the way contemporary emotional events shape local fusion is similar to the way in which historical experiences shape extended fusion. We propose a reciprocal process in which historical events shape contemporary identities, whereas contemporary identities shape interpretations of past traumas.

Amplitude-Modulated Lock-In Vibrothermography for NDE of Polymers and Composites

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rantala ◽  
D. Wu ◽  
G. Busse
Keyword(s):  
Lock In

Appropriation des Savoirs et Mémoire Collective

2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Sophie Richardot
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Factorial Analysis ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Memoire Collective ◽  
Obedience To Authority

The aim of this study is to understand to what extent soliciting collective memory facilitates the appropriation of knowledge. After being informed about Milgram’s experiment on obedience to authority, students were asked to mention historical or contemporary events that came to mind while thinking about submission to authority. Main results of the factorial analysis show that the students who do not believe in the reproducibility of the experimental results oppose dramatic past events to a peaceful present, whereas those who do believe in the reproducibility of the results also mention dramatic contemporary events, thus linking past and present. Moreover, the students who do not accept the results for today personify historical events, whereas those who fully accept them generalize their impact. Therefore, according to their attitude toward this objet of knowledge, the students refer to two kinds of memory: a “closed memory,” which tends to relegate Milgram’s results to ancient history; and an “open memory,” which, on the contrary, transforms past events into a concept that helps them understand the present. Soliciting collective memory may contribute to the appropriation of knowledge provided the memory activated is an “open” one, linking past to present and going beyond the singularity of the event.

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