"Understanding the effect of exemplars on technological paradigm formation" by Matthew Karlson

Past Event

Date
28 February 2014, 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Location
INET Oxford Lecture Theatre
Eagle House, Walton Well Road, Oxford, OX2 6ED

This seminar is hosted by The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School

Speaker: Matthew Karlson, Research Student, Department of Computing, University of Surrey

Summary: What determines the direction of technological change within an industry? In this presentation it is argued that technological exemplars play a key role. An exemplar is a design model or pattern to be built upon and imitated. Koen Frenken’s model of technological paradigm formation suggests that the selective construction of a design over time produces an exemplar with ‘locked-in’ core elements. These core elements channel future change along a particular technological trajectory. Here a new model is presented that suggests that, where competitive forces are sufficient, ‘two-tier’ selection (both selective construction of designs and selection of firms at the industry level) results in a dominant exemplar and associated trajectory at the industry level. Variety reducing forces interact with variety generating forces such that the balance determines whether or not a trajectory will emerge. esses.