Institutional analysis of technical innovation: A review

Arbeitspapier

Different sub-disciplines of the social sciences analyse the evolution and diffusion of technical innovations from an institutional perspective. Important contributions are provided by socio-economic studies of national systems of innovation, by politico-economic research on the varieties of capitalism, and by the sociology of technology. These studies often start from rather simple distinctions between types of technical innovations (e.g., radical versus incremental) which they usually do not elaborate on. Such black-boxing of technology by and large facilitates detecting generalizable relations between institutional constellations and technical innovations. But a more sophisticated analysis of the relationship between institutions and technical innovations needs more precise concepts of both technology and institutions, and it must dismiss the prevailing institutional determinism. Processes of technical and institutional innovations are characterised by co-evolution, interaction and mutual adjustment.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SOI Discussion Paper ; No. 2011-04

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie, Anthropologie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Werle, Raymund
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Abteilung für Organisations- und Innovationssoziologie
• (where): Stuttgart
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/88175
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET