Innovation and lock-in

Arbeitspapier

This study focuses on a well-known but yet elusive concept: (technological) lock-in. We summarize what is known about the nature of lock-in and offer a critical view on history- dependent processes based on recent contributions to the literature. We discuss if lock-ins are really inescapable, especially when innovation is concerned. Also, we address the question if lock-in is a well-defined concept at all. To offer a fresh view on lock-in and to tackle the issues just raised, we employ the replicator dynamics model. By making a parallel between monopolization in the replicator dynamics and the occurrence of lock-ins, we show that the convergence of a system to a given outcome can be reversed, under certain conditions. We highlight the need for a more precise demarcation of the conceptual boundaries of lock-in and path dependence, both from the formal and the empirical side, and suggest that further structural features - for example users heterogeneity - may play a relevant role in affecting the outcome of dynamic allocation and competition processes.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Jena Economic Research Papers ; No. 2016-018

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• Subject: competitive diffusion ; history dependent processes ; innovation ; Lock-in ; path dependence ; Polya urn

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cantner, Uwe ; Vannuccini, Simone
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• (where): Jena
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/148897
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET