Ontological uncertainty and innovation

David Lane () and Robert Maxfield ()

Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 2004, vol. 15, issue 1, 3-50

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between uncertainty and innovation. It distinguishes three kinds of uncertainty: truth uncertainty, semantic uncertainty, and ontological uncertainty, the latter of which is particularly important for innovation processes. The paper then develops some implications of ontological uncertainty for innovation processes at three levels of organization, by means of three theories: a narrative theory of action at the level of individual economic actors; the theory of generative relationships at the meso-level of agent interaction; and the theory of scaffolding structures at the macro-level of market systems. These theories are illustrated by means of examples drawn from a prospective study on the emergence of a new market system around a technology for distributed control. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2004

Keywords: Ontological uncertainty; Innovation; Narrative; Generative relations; Scaffolding structures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s00191-004-0227-7

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