Reimagining Diffusion Eight building blocks for reconceptualising the generalisation of innovation into society

Douglas K. R. Robinson (), Susana Borrás () and Wouter P.C. Boon ()
Additional contact information
Douglas K. R. Robinson: Université Gustave Eiffel, Postal: France
Susana Borrás: Copenhagen Business School, Postal: Denmark
Wouter P.C. Boon: Utrecht University, Postal: The Netherlands

No 2024/17, Papers in Innovation Studies from Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research

Abstract: This editorial focuses on the diverse studies and frameworks related to the diffusion of innovations, building beyond Everett Rogers’ seminal work from 1962. Despite a renewed interest in diffusion research, fragmentation exists as different academic communities work independently with limited cross-referencing. Seeing great advantage in building bridges and exchanging insights across these conceptual and empirical expansions of Rogers, this editorial explores the heterogeneous nature of diffusion, encompassing various innovation types, systems, geographies and pathways. Using “generalisation” as a broad umbrella term that captures the essence of these expansions on diffusion theory, whilst remaining open to different conceptualisations, eight building blocks were identified from the literature to characterise generalisation, offering new research avenues. The special issue encompasses nine articles in which a broader understanding of diffusion is explored. Key lessons include recognising diffusion as a set of heterogeneous activities involving different innovations, actors, and institutional logics, considering temporal aspects, anticipating repercussions on user groups, and envisioning ethical, legal, and societal impacts for responsible diffusion. These lessons are relevant for policymakers who are increasingly interested in understanding diffusion to address grand challenges. Transformative innovation policy calls for new policy frameworks incorporating diffusion policy measures, which should be build on insights and conceptual frameworks offered by scholars and strategic intelligence provided by decision-makers.

Keywords: Diffusion; innovation policy; generalisation; grand challenges; transformative innovation; mission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O32 O33 O34 O38 O39 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2024-11-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse and nep-ino
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://wp.circle.lu.se/upload/CIRCLE/workingpapers/202417_robinson.pdf Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2024_017

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Papers in Innovation Studies from Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research, Lund University, PO Box 117, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Torben Schubert ().