Innovation in the long run. Perspectives on technological transitions in Sweden, 1909-2016

The Institute of Economics will hold a webinar meeting as part of its Seminar Series on Tuesday, May 25, 2021: Josef Taalbi from Lund University will present the paper "Innovation in the long run. Perspectives on technological transitions in Sweden, 1909-2016".

Abstract:

Despite several characterizations of long-run technological change as successive technological revolutions, there are still fundamental unresolved questions about the nature of the interplay between innovation and economic development. This owes in part to the difficulty of measuring innovation. This study examines historical technological transitions in Sweden, using a new literature-based innovation output indicator for the engineering industry and the period 1909-2016, allowing a mixed methods approach. The results suggest that waves of product innovation have taken place during periods of investment downturns and deeper structural crises during the 1930s, 1970s and 2010s. Closer examination suggests that the concentration of innovations during structural crises can be explained by industry rationalization and price breakthroughs, complementarities between technological systems, and landscape pressure such as energy crises. It is also suggested that vigorous technological responses to pressure and opportunities may originate in a long Swedish history of public procurement and state-industry interaction. Looking ahead, these results suggest that more attention should be paid to supporting infrastructures for sustainable transitions and the interaction between socio-technical systems; not least between automation and renewable energy technologies.

All interested participants are welcome to join online at the following link. External participants need to contact the organisers via email to grant access to the seminar.