 Recombinant Innovation and Endogenous TransitionsKoen Frenken, Luis Izquierdo and Paolo Zeppini No 12-01, Working Papers from Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies Abstract: We propose a model of technological transitions based on two different types of innovations. Branching innovations refer to technological improvements along a particular path, while recombinant innovations represent fusions of multiple paths. Recombinant innovations create “short-cuts” which reduce switching costs allowing agents to escape a technological lock-in. As a result, recombinant innovations speed up technological progress allowing transitions that are impossible with only branching innovations. Our model replicates some stylized facts of technological change, such as technological lockin, experimental failure, punctuated change and irreversibility. Furthermore, an extensive simulation experiment suggests that there is an optimal rate of innovation, which is strongly correlated with the number of recombination innovations. This underlines the pivotal role of technological variety as a seed for recombinant innovation leading to technological transitions. Keywords: variety; network externalities; lock-in; switching costs; recombinant innovations; transition; punctuated change (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ein:tuecis:1201 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Working Papers from Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies Contact information at EDIRC. |
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