Technology Adoption →
- 16 Jun 2014
- Research & Ideas
The Unfulfilled Promise of Educational Technology
With 50 million public school students in America, technology holds much potential to transform schools, says John Jong-Hyun Kim. So why isn't it happening? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Jan 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Mechanisms of Technology Re-Emergence and Identity Change in a Mature Field: Swiss Watchmaking, 1970-2008
According to most theories of technological change, old technologies tend to disappear when newer ones arrive. As this paper argues, however, market demand for old technologies may wane only to emerge again at a later point in time, as seems to be the case for products like Swiss watches, fountain pens, streetcars, independent bookstores, and vinyl records, which have all begun to claim significant market interest again. Looking specifically at watchmaking, the author examines dynamics of technology re-emergence and the mechanisms whereby this re-emergence occurs in mature industries and fields. Swiss watchmakers had dominated their industry and the mechanical watch movement for nearly two centuries, but their reign ended abruptly in the mid-1970s at the onset of the "Quartz Revolution" (also known as the "Quartz Crisis"). By 1983, two-thirds of all watch industry jobs in Switzerland were gone. More recently, however, as the field has moved toward a focus on luxury, a "re-coupling" of product, organizational, and community identity has allowed master craftsmen to continue building their works of art. The study makes three main contributions: 1) It highlights the importance of studying technology-in-practice as a lens on viewing organizational and institutional change. 2) It extends the theorization of identity to products, organizations, and communities and embeds these within cycles of technology change. 3) It suggests the importance of understanding field-level change as tentative and time-bound: This perspective may allow deeper insights into the mechanisms that propel emergence, and even re-emergence, of seemingly "dead" technologies and industries. (Read an interview with Ryan Raffaelli about his research.) Key concepts include: The value of some products may go beyond pure functionality to embrace non-functional aspects that can influence consumer buying behaviors. Introducing a new technology is not always the only way to get ahead of the curve when older technologies or industries appear to be reaching the end of their life. Industries that successfully re-emerge are able to redefine their competitive set - the group of organizations upon which they want to compete and the value proposition that they send to the consumer. There is significant interplay among community, organization, and product identities. Swiss watches—as well as fountain pens, streetcars, independent bookstores and vinyl records—are all examples of technologies once considered dead that have rematerialized to claim significant market interest. For Swiss watchmakers, "who we are" (as a community) and "what we do" (as watch producers) were mutually constitutive and may have been a potent force in the processes that sought re-coupling in the face of the de-coupling precipitated by technological change. Although new or discontinuous technologies tend to displace older ones, legacy technologies can re-emerge, coexist with, and even come to dominate newer technologies. Core to this process is the creation—and recreation—of product, organization, and community identities that resonate with the re-emergence of markets for legacy technologies. Substantial economic change may not be contained only within organizational or industry boundaries, but also extend outward to include broader forces related to field-level change. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Jan 2014
- Research & Ideas
Technology Re-Emergence: Creating New Value for Old Innovations
Every once in a while, an old technology rises from the ashes and finds new life. Ryan Raffaelli explains how the Swiss watch industry saved itself by reinventing its identity. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Dec 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Heterogeneous Technology Diffusion and Ricardian Trade Patterns
The principle of Ricardian technology differences as a source of trade is well established in the theory of international economics. This theory argues that countries can focus on producing products in which they have comparative productivity advantages; subsequent exchanges afford higher standards of living in all countries than are possible without trade. While a key theory, economists have struggled to quantify the empirical importance of comparative technology advantages and their link to trade. This is especially difficult given the high degree to which technology states of countries and industries can be correlated with other traits about countries that could also promote trade. This study contributes to scholarship on Ricardian advantages through the development of a substantially larger dataset than previously utilized and the study of changes in technology/trade over time. Even more important, the study provides a tool for isolating relative technology growth in exporting countries across industries. The foundation for this identification is the modeling of Ricardian advantages through differences across countries and their industries in terms of their access to the U.S. technology frontier. The differences arise due to historical migration patterns (e.g., Chinese migration to San Francisco versus Hispanic migration to Miami). The study analyzes how technologies flow differentially to countries and industries based upon the historical settlement patterns of migrants from countries and the spatial development of new technologies in the United States (i.e., which technologies flourished in San Francisco versus Miami). The study finds that these differential technology flows are powerful enough to influence world trade patterns, and in the process, they provide new identification to an age-old theory. Key concepts include: A core principle in international economics concerns trade among countries due to technology differences. While often this theory constitutes the first chapter in trade textbooks, empirical measurement of these relationships has been challenging. The empirical work in the study finds that comparative advantages are an important determinant of trade. Moreover, Ricardian differences are relevant for explaining changes in trade patterns over time. The study documents for emerging economies an economic consequence of emigration to frontier economies like the United States. Technology transfer from overseas migrants is strong enough to meaningfully promote exports from the home country. Beyond quantifying the link between technology and trade for manufacturing, this paper also contributes to research on the benefits and costs of emigration to the United States for the migrants' home countries (i.e., the "brain drain" or "brain gain" debate). Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Aug 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
From Green Users to Green Voters
Does the diffusion of technology affect voting patterns? Technology is usually not aligned with a specific ideology or political party. Indeed, to the extent that technology raises living standards, all parties tend to favor technology diffusion. However, in some cases, voters may associate a political party with a specific technology. Green parties, for example, advocate for the diffusion of green energy technologies and pursue policies that foster the diffusion of green energies. This paper finds a significant effect of photovoltaic (PV) adoption on the increase in the share of votes for Germany's Green Party. In particular, the increase in the diffusion rate of PV systems between 1998 and 2009 led to an increase in the fraction of green votes of 1 percent, which represents 25 percent of the actual increase in the voting rate experienced by the Green Party between 1998 and 2009. Key concepts include: This study uncovered the impact that the diffusion of PV systems has on the votes obtained by Germany's Green Party. Individuals that use green technologies are more likely to become Green Party voters. Approximately a quarter of the increase in the share of votes experienced by the Green Party between 1998 and 2009 is driven by the diffusion of PV systems. In contrast, there were no such effects from the diffusion of industrial PV systems and eolic systems. This contrast confirms the importance of voters' direct involvement with the adoption and/or operation of the technology for this to affect their voting patterns. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Jun 2013
- Research & Ideas
Is Your iPhone Turning You Into a Wimp?
The body posture inherent in operating everyday gadgets affects not only your back, but your behavior. According to a new study by Maarten Bos and Amy Cuddy, operating a relatively large device inspires more assertive behavior than working on a small one. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 May 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged?
To respond to the question posed in the title of their paper, the authors explore one potential driver—the dynamics of technology adoption. Using a stylized model of adoption that accounts for individual technologies, the authors identify two margins of adoption: adoption lags and penetration rates. Analyzing a panel of adoption lags and penetration rates for 25 technologies and 132 countries, they show that adoption lags have converged across countries over the last 200 years, while penetration rates have diverged. Feeding these patterns into the aggregate representation of their model economy, they next evaluate the effects of cross-country evolution of adoption patterns on the cross-country evolution of income growth. The paper's main finding is that the evolution of adoption patterns accounts for the vast majority of cross-country evolution of income growth for many country groupings. Therefore, adoption dynamics are at the core of cross-country differences in per-capita income over the last 200 years, a phenomenon known as the Great Divergence. Key concepts include: This paper explores whether the dynamics of technology can help us account for the cross-country evolution of productivity and income growth over the last 200 years. Findings show that there has been convergence in adoption lags between rich and poor countries, while there has been divergence in penetration rates. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Jan 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
The Spatial Diffusion of Technology
Technology disparities are critical for explaining cross-country differences in per capita income. Despite being non-rival in nature and involving no direct transport costs, technology diffuses slowly both across and within countries. Even when a technology has arrived in a country, it takes years and even decades before it has diffused to the point of having a significant impact on productivity. Why does technology diffuse slowly? How do we explain cross-country differences in its speed of diffusion? In this paper, the authors study the diffusion over time and space of 20 major technologies in 161 countries over the last 140 years. The spatial effects they identify for technologies vanish over time. For most technologies, this implies that the effect of geography is initially strong, decays over time, and eventually disappears. This is the first paper to document these patterns in adoption rates for a large number of technologies and countries. Estimates provided of structural parameters can be used to inform spatial theories of growth. Key concepts include: This paper uses a new data set of direct measures of technology to study technology diffusion across time and space. Technology diffuses slower to locations that are farther away from adoption leaders. Interactions are more frequent for more recent technologies. Understanding technology diffusion over space is crucial to understand the speed of technology diffusion. Evidence on the significance of the spatial and temporal links in technology adoption could prove helpful to stimulate future research in these areas. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Jan 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
The Value of Advice: Evidence from Mobile Phone-Based Agricultural Extension
This paper evaluates a new service that provides mobile-phone based agricultural consulting to poor farmers in India. For decades, the Government of India, like most governments in the developing world, has operated a system of agricultural extension, intended to spread information on new agricultural practices and technologies through a large work force of public extension agents. Evidence of the efficacy of these extension services, however, is limited. This paper describes a randomized field experiment examining the potential for an alternate route to improving agricultural management. Specifically, the authors evaluate Avaaj Otalo (AO), a mobile phone-based technology that allows farmers to call a hotline, ask questions, and receive responses from agricultural scientists and local extension workers. Findings show that AO had a range of important, positive effects on farmer behavior. This paper may be the first rigorous evaluation of mobile phone-based extension and, more generally, the first evaluation of a demand-driven extension service delivered by any means. Key concepts include: Farmers with access to the service were more likely to switch to a pesticide that is both more effective against pests, and dramatically less toxic to humans. Farmers receiving advice were also quicker to adopt high-value cash crops, planting more cumin and demonstrating more knowledge about it. The paper presents the first rigorous evidence that a low-cost agricultural extension service (costing as little as $.60 per farmer per month) can change behavior. There is a "digital divide" in India. There are systematic differences in adoption and use of the service, even among a relatively homogeneous group of farmers, and even for a technology that was specifically designed to be accessible to an illiterate population. Surveying by mobile phones can be conducted effectively and cheaply in a developing country context. There is considerable demand among farmers for high quality agricultural information. The information and communications technology (ICT) delivered timely, relevant, and actionable information and advice to farmers at dramatically lower cost than any traditional service. The ICT significantly changed farmers' sources of information for sowing and input-related decisions-in particular, farmers relied less on commissions-motivated agricultural input dealers for pesticide advice. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult
If done right, IT has the potential to completely transform business by flattening hierarchies, shrinking supply chains, and speeding communications, says professor Kristina Steffenson McElheran. Why, then, do so many companies get it wrong? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Jul 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Investment Incentives in Proprietary and Open-Source Two-Sided Platforms
While proprietary and open-source software have coexisted since the early days of the computing industry, competition between these two modes of development has intensified dramatically following the surge of the Internet in the mid-1990s. This paper provides a first step to better understand incentives to invest in proprietary and open platforms. Specifically, the authors examine a model of a proprietary and an open-source two-sided platform to study equilibrium investment in platform quality. Their analysis provides answers to three important questions: (1) How are the incentives to invest in platform quality affected by the degree of platform openness? (2) Which of these two modes of governance leads to investment closer to the social optimum? And (3), how are incentives to invest in platform quality moderated by competition between proprietary and open two-sided platforms? Comparing monopoly platforms reveals that for a given level of user and developer adoption, investment incentives are stronger in proprietary platforms. However, open platforms may receive larger investment because they may benefit from wider adoption, which raises the returns to quality investment. The authors also find that proprietary platforms may benefit from higher investment in competing open platforms when developers multi-home, a result that helps explain why a proprietary platform such as Microsoft has chosen to contribute to the development of Linux. Key concepts include: Through access prices, a monopolistic proprietary platform can ensure that a particular level of investment in platform quality takes place regardless of how much users pay for applications. Quality investment in open platforms may be larger than for proprietary platforms, due to larger user and developer entry. Therefore, open platforms may lead to investments in platform quality closer to social efficiency. When developers multi-home, the proprietary platform may benefit from higher quality investment in a competing open-source platform. This result explains why proprietary firms may choose to contribute to the development of competing open-source platforms. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies
In a series of research papers, Associate Professor Diego A. Comin and colleagues investigated the relationship between technology adoption and per capita income. They found that the rate at which nations adopted new tools hundreds of years ago strongly affects whether those nations are rich or poor today. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Feb 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Platform Competition Under Partial Belief Advantage
In platform competition in a two-sided market, a platform's ability to attract consumers depends not only on the consumers' beliefs regarding its quality, but also on consumers' beliefs regarding the platform's ability to attract the other side of the market. For example, in the market for smart-phones the recent introductions of Apple's iPhone 4S with the improved operating system, and Samsung's Galaxy II with the improved Android 4, open a new round in the competition between the two platforms. The ability of each platform to attract users depends not only on its perceived quality, but also on users' beliefs regarding the number new applications developed for the platform. Likewise, the ability to attract application developers to the platform depends on their beliefs regarding the number of users that will join the platform. In a competitive market, some platforms may enjoy more favorable beliefs of the market (about their ability to attract ``the other side) than other platforms. Such a belief advantage may be source of a competitive advantage. In this paper, the authors look at how the belief advantage helps the platform to compete in the market, and also how a platform may create the belief advantage. The authors find that the degree of the platform's belief advantage affects its decision regarding its business model (whether to subsidize buyers or sellers), as well as the access fees and the size of the platform. Moreover, the paper looks into the optimal advertising strategy that leads to creating belief advantage. This paper contributes to scholarship on economics and business strategy. Key concepts include: The advantaged platform can win the market even if it offers a lower quality than the disadvantaged platform, because of its ability to exploit its beliefs advantage. It is also possible for the disadvantaged platform to win if it offers substantially higher quality. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Oct 2011
- Working Paper Summaries
Historical Trajectories and Corporate Competences in Wind Energy
Analyzing developments in the wind turbine business over more than a century, Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane argue that public policy has been a key variable in the spread of wind energy since the 1980s, but that public policy was more of a problem than a facilitator in the earlier history of the industry. Geography has mattered to some extent, also: Both in the United States and Denmark, the existence of rural areas not supplied by electricity provided the initial stimulus to entrepreneurs and innovators. Building firm-level capabilities has been essential in an industry which has been both technically difficult and vulnerable to policy shifts. Key concepts include: Firms from Denmark have been unusually prominent throughout the history of the wind energy business. The basis of the competitive Danish industry was laid without support or even encouragement from its government. US-based firms have also been regularly found among the leading wind energy companies. But their relative importance varied considerably over time, has rarely reflected the overall importance of the U.S. market, and has involved a changing cast of actual firms. German and Spanish, and more recently Indian and Chinese firms, have emerged to become amongst the largest turbine manufacturers in the industry. The most striking change over the last decade has been in the competitive landscape. Engineering powerhouses, such as GE and Siemens, and wholly or partly state-owned Chinese firms with low-cost bases, are now prominent actors in this industry. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Oct 2011
- Research & Ideas
Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink
Mass-market retailers, particularly big-box "category killers," are under critical pressure from online competitors. For retailers that can react quickly enough, this upheaval is survivable. But those slow to see the tsunami wave on the horizon stand to be swept away, according to professors Rajiv Lal and José B. Alvarez. Key concepts include: Retailing generally is at a tipping point, with category killers being the first significant casualties. Online competitors are making retail stores, which spent much of the last decade adding floor space, less productive. The impact of emerging technologies, expanding price and assortment transparency, and the increasing amount of excess retail space has created similar challenges for all mass-market retailers. Physical stores can compete by emphasizing instant gratification, unique shopping experiences, and customized support. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Jun 2011
- HBS Case
Mobile Banking for the Unbanked
A billion people in developing countries have no need for a savings account–but they do need a financial service that banks compete to provide. The new HBS case Mobile Banking for the Unbanked, written by professor Kash Rangan, is a lesson in understanding the real need of customers.
- 02 Mar 2011
- Research & Ideas
Managing the Open Source vs. Proprietary Decision
In their new book, The Comingled Code, HBS professor Josh Lerner and London School of Economics professor Mark Schankerman look at the impact of open source software on economic development. Our book excerpt discusses implications for managers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Oct 2010
- Working Paper Summaries
The Intensive Margin of Technology Adoption
To anyone who observes the world, it's pretty clear that a country's poverty level is at least somewhat related to its adoption of new technologies. Historically, though, this fact has been difficult to quantify. Harvard Business School professor Diego Comin and MIT researcher Martí Mestieri are developing a model to analyze the relationship between economic growth and technology adoption. In their paper, they discuss both "extensive" margins (the length of time it takes a country to adopt any given new technology) and "intensive" margins (the number of technology units--smartphones, PCs, etc.--that the country adopts). Key concepts include: The role of technology is crucial to understanding per capita income differences. Differences just in the intensive margin of technology adoption account for some 45 percent of cross-country differences in per capita income. As a whole, technology adoption seems to account for 70 percent of differences in cross-country per capita income. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Aug 2010
- Working Paper Summaries
The Influence of Prior Industry Affiliation on Framing in Nascent Industries: The Evolution of Digital Cameras
Firms entering a new product market face tremendous ambiguity and competitive uncertainty, particularly when the new market is sparked by radical technological change. Potential customers have little or no experience with products, and during this period of turbulence, firms experiment with alternative product configurations, functions, and technologies. By studying the emergence of the consumer mass market for digital cameras, Carlson School of Management professor Mary J. Benner and HBS professor Mary Tripsas explore what factors influence a firm's initial introduction of product features during the nascent stage of a product market, and how the process of convergence on a standard set of features unfolds. In particular, they assess how a firm's prior industry affiliation influences its conceptualization of the product. Key concepts include: The authors used a dataset that includes the entry date and features of almost every camera in the history of the U.S. consumer digital camera industry from its inception in 1991 through 2006. Results suggest that firms from the same prior industry shared similar beliefs about what features (such as optical zoom) would be valued, as reflected in their concurrent introduction of features. Firms were likely to imitate the behavior of firms from the same prior industry, as opposed to that of firms from different prior industries, in introducing some but not all features. Finally, as a firm's experience with a particular feature increased, the influence of prior industry decreased. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Has Apple Reinvented the Watch?
Will the Apple Watch reinvent wearables the way the iPhone did smartphones? Ryan Raffaelli shares his insights. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.