Interactions between business, technological, public policy, and organization processes are changing the way modern economies work. In this book the concept of 'change' is problematized in terms of flexibility and stability across these processes, examining the central issues of industrial dynamics, structural change, and transformation. It adopts a perspective of the economy that sees it as an inherently dynamic and complex system, consisting of diverse components and activities, which interact and change in different ways over time. This means placing an emphasis not only on economic transformation, but also on the diverse actors in this transformation who are deciding, doing, and acting in ways which affect the outcomes of this change.
Chapters are grouped within three themes, which readers will find are core to the fields of innovation studies, industrial dynamics, and evolutionary economics: Experimenting and Inertia; Evolution and Adaptation of Structure; and Innovating and Technological Transformation.
1. Introduction , Maureen McKelvey and Magnus Holmen
Theme 1: Experimentation and Inertia
2. The new craft skills of engineering: the impact of innovation technology on engineering practice , Mark Dodgson, David Gann, and Ammon Salter
3. Innovative Opportunities: A Force Driving Flexibility and Stability in the economy , Magnus Holmen, Mats Magnusson, and Maureen McKelvey
4. The Great Experiment: Public-private partnerships and innovation in design, production and operation of capital goods in the UK , Andrew Davies and Ammon Salter
Theme 2: Evolution and Adaptation of Structure
5. Complexity, evolution, and the Structure of Demand , John Foster and Jason Potts
6. Self-transformation, Self-organization, and Evolutionary Adaptation in the Economic Process , Stan Metcalfe and Ronnie Ramlogan
7. Changing Boundaries of Firms in the Evolution of the Computer Industry: Towards a history friendly model , Franco Malerba, Richard Nelson, Luigi Orsenigo and Sidney Winter
Theme 3: Technological Transformation
8. The effects of Technological Change on the Boundaries of Existing Firms , Paul Robertson and Gianmario Verona
9. Transitions, Transformations and Reproduction: Dynamics of functional systems , Frank W. Geels and Rene Kemp
10. Analyzing Flexibility and Stability in Co-evolutionary Processes , Magnus Holmen and Maureen McKelvey
