Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation

The general theme of the 10th International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society Conf- ence, held during June 9th12th, 2004 at Universita` Luigi Bocconi, Milan, was the exploration of the dynamics of industries driven by the highly interrelated processes of innovation and of structural transformation. The phenomena addressed are at the core of Schumpeters work and the discussion of these endogenously created modes of change constitutes one of the major Schumpeterian legacies of today. Indeed, the in?uence of the Schumpeterian approach to economic dynamics is far reaching and covers evolutionary as well as neoclassical theories. This book provides an account of work in the Schumpeterian and evolutionary tradition of industrial dynamics and the evolution of industries. Here, the main analytical concern is that, over time, industries evolve and change their structure, and that, in this dynamic process, knowledge and technologies, the capabilities and incentives of actors, new products and processes (as well as variants of existing ones), and institutions affect and constrain change, sometimes smoothly and so- times in a radical way. Thus, what is meant here by the term structure and structural change is not the traditional market structure view (as re?ected, for example, in the classical discussion of the Schumpeterian Hypotheses), but all those elements and relations between actors, knowledge and technologies which drive innovative activities and greatly affect economic performance in an industry.