Technological Change and the Evolution of Corporate Innovation: The Structure of Patenting 1890-1990 (PREST/CRIC Studies in Science, Technology and Innovation)

This book represents an original study of long term patterns in technological development and innovation in large corporations. The author is primarily concerned with understanding open-ended transformation processes in the evolution of industrialised societies. US patent data from 1890 to 1990 is employed within an evolutionary framework. The book offers an overview of an intellectual agenda associated with a highly important and pervasive set of phenomena and challenges several dogmas currently alive within economic reasoning including:

• technological paradigms governing trajectories of opportunity
• the S-shaped image of the technological growth cycle and technological dynamics
• long waves
• industrial dynamics
• the variety of firms' technological profiles and corporate trajectories
• corporate technological leadership
• socio-economic transformation processes and underpinning 'rules'.

Technological Change and the Evolution of Corporate Innovation details historically how the innovative and competitive landscapes within industrialised societies have become increasingly complex. This book will appeal to industrial and business economists, technology historians, researchers, students, policymakers and business analysts.

Birgitte Andersen, Professor of the Economics and Management of Innovation, School of Business, Economics and Informatics, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK