The Last Shall Be First: Innovation as a Head-to-Head Race

Patrick Arnold, Marc Möller, Catherine Roux

Diskussionsschriften from Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft

Abstract: Uncertainty about the value of a contested innovation induces leaders and laggards to update their expectations in opposite directions. We characterize situations in which firms that have obtained an initial advantage are not the most likely to achieve final success. In spite of amplifying a leader’s advantage, greater contest intensity facilitates this effect, challenging the view that laggards require support to remain competitive.

Keywords: innovation contests; learning; competitive balance; leapfrogging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 D82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-mic, nep-sbm and nep-spo
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2505

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