Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by ELZINGA, K. G.
Right arrow Articles by MILLS, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1996 Oxford University Press

research-article

Innovation and Entry in the US Disposable Diaper Industry

KENNETH G. ELZINGA and DAVID E. MILLS

Department of Economics, University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA)

Abstract

Economic analysis concerning new product innovation is divided between the perspective (associated with Bain) that new product designs are based on product differentiation which erects barriers to new competition insulating incumbent firms, and the perspective (associated with Schumpeter) that innovation erodes the position of incumbent firms. This paper offers an analysis of the US disposable diaper industry which emphasizes the long-run effects of technological competition and entry on market performance over the short-run effects of incumbency advantages. As the disposable diaper industry evolved, neither product differentiation, supported by large advertising expenditures, nor technological leadership in new product development insulated the major company Procter & Gamble from the ‘gales of creatives destruction’. Spillovers created by the market leaders became the means of successful entry and the channels of technology diffusion that sustained entrants in the technology race and enlarged consumer benefits.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Ind Corp ChangeHome page
A. Bergek, F. Tell, C. Berggren, and J. Watson
Technological capabilities and late shakeouts: industrial dynamics in the advanced gas turbine industry, 1987-2002
Ind. Corp. Change, April 1, 2008; 17(2): 335 - 392.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.