Exaptation: unveiling the potential for technological innovation

Seungmin Lee (), Jeong-Dong Lee and Youwei He
Additional contact information
Seungmin Lee: Seoul National University
Jeong-Dong Lee: Seoul National University
Youwei He: Seoul National University

Scientometrics, 2025, vol. 130, issue 7, No 8, 3483-3503

Abstract: Abstract Technological exaptation refers to the phenomenon whereby technology is co-opted for uses other than its original design. Recognised as a key driver in technological innovation, this concept is illustrated by inventions such as the microwave oven and various pharmaceuticals. Previous studies have primarily analysed the impact of exaptation at the product, firm, and industry levels. In contrast, this study conducts a comprehensive analysis of exaptation at the technological level through a quantitative examination using USPTO patent data. Specifically, we first explore the relationship between exaptation and disruptiveness, followed by an analysis examining how combinatorial factors of technological elements may be associated with the occurrence of exaptation. Our analysis confirms that exaptation is positively associated with disruptive innovation, demonstrating that a higher exaptation rate corresponds to increased disruptiveness. Moreover, the qualitative and quantitative diversity of technological elements referenced in patents is significantly associated with the occurrence of exaptation. In particular, we found that technologies incorporating a greater number of exaptive components and diverse elements from various technological domains exhibit higher rates of exaptation. By conducting a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of exaptation within the technology space, this study broadens the scope of exaptation-related research and demonstrates that exaptation can play a positive role in the expansion of technology space.

Keywords: Technological exaptation; Disruptiveness; Combinatorial innovation; Diversity; Citation network; Classification code (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-025-05362-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:scient:v:130:y:2025:i:7:d:10.1007_s11192-025-05362-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-025-05362-7

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().