An Empirical Exploration of a Technology Race

Josh Lerner

RAND Journal of Economics, 1997, vol. 28, issue 2, 228-247

Abstract: An extensive theoretical literature examines technological competition, and in particular whether leaders maintain their standing. These models, however, have received little empirical support. I examine innovation in the disk drive industry, an environment particularly conducive to identifying racing behavior. Strategic variables prove significant in explaining the decision to innovate. The patterns are in accord with Reinganum's work: firms that trail the leader innovate more. I add controls for technological opportunity, financing constraints, and firm turnover. When firms manufacture drives for internal use or there are many entrants, and strategic interactions may be less important, the effects are less pronounced.

Date: 1997
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (76)

Downloads: (external link)
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0741-6261%2819972 ... 3B2-%23&origin=repec full text (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.

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:rje:randje:v:28:y:1997:i:summer:p:228-247

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://editorialexp ... i-bin/rje_online.cgi

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in RAND Journal of Economics from The RAND Corporation
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().