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 Malerba, F
Right arrow Articles by Winter, S
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Industrial and Corporate Change, Volume 8, Number 1, pp. 3-40
© 1999 Oxford University Press

'History-friendly' models of industry evolution: the computer industry

F Malerbaa, R Nelsonb, L Orsenigo and S Winterd

a University of Brescia and CESPIR, Bocconi University, Italy
b Columbia University, New York, USA
Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
d The Wharton School, Philadelphia, USA

Abstract

The model presented in this paper is the first of a new generation of evolutionary economic models: 'history-friendly' models. History-friendly models are formal models that aim to capture, in stylized form, qualitative and 'appreciative' theories about the mechanisms and factors affecting industry evolution, technological advance and institutional change put forth by empirical scholars of industrial economics, technological change, business organization and strategy, and other social scientists. In this paper we have analyzed the long-term evolution of the computer industry. In particular we have examined the emergence of a dominant firm in mainframes, the introduction of a major innovation (microprocessor), the opening up of a new market segment (personal computers), ad the competition there between newcomers and diversified old established firms. We have taken a body of verbal appreciative theorizing, developed a formal representation of that theory, and found that the formal version of that theory is consistent and capable of generating the stylized facts the appreciative theory purports to explain. Going through this analytic exercise has significantly sharpened our theoretical understanding of the key factors behind salient aspects of the evolution of the computer industry.


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
F. Fatas-Villafranca, J. Sanchez-Choliz, and G. Jarne
Modeling the co-evolution of national industries and institutions
Ind. Corp. Change, February 1, 2008; 17(1): 65 - 108.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Management InquiryHome page
M. Augier
Why is Management an Evolutionary Science?: An Interview With Sidney G. Winter
Journal of Management Inquiry, December 1, 2005; 14(4): 344 - 354.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Cambridge J EconHome page
P. P. Patrucco
The emergence of technology systems: knowledge production and distribution in the case of the Emilian plastics district
Camb. J. Econ., January 1, 2005; 29(1): 37 - 56.
[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.