Innovation and Entry in the US Disposable Diaper Industry

Kenneth Elzinga and David Mills ()

Industrial and Corporate Change, 1996, vol. 5, issue 3, 791-812

Abstract: Economic analysis concerning new product innovation is divided between the perspective (associated with Bain) that new product designs are based on product differentiation which erects barriers to new competition insulating incumbent firms, and the perspective (associated with Schumpeter) that innovation erodes the position of incumbent firms. This paper offers an analysis of the US disposable diaper industry which emphasizes the long-run effects of technological competition and entry on market performance over the short-run effects of incumbency advantages. As the disposable diaper industry evolved, neither product differentiation, supported by large advertising expenditures, nor technological leadership in new product development insulated the major company Proctor & Gamble from the 'gales of creative destruction'. Spillovers created by the market leaders became the means of successful entry and the channels of technology diffusion that sustained entrants in the technology race and enlarged consumer benefits. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 1996
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:oup:indcch:v:5:y:1996:i:3:p:791-812

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Industrial and Corporate Change is currently edited by Josef Chytry

More articles in Industrial and Corporate Change from Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().