Technological revolutions &
techno-economic paradigms -
Perez
Class Media technology & society
Recap of last week
What defines societies?
How do societies move from one type to another?
→ basic needs are fulfilled, so space for new needs
→ society = defined by what we do with tech (cf McLuhan)
Bell = implication of tech have little to with the details of the tech itself
→ some critiques like overestimation of service aspect
Tech revolutions and techno-economic paradigms
Few decades to find the first female author in this field
Builds on Schumpeter (aka neo-schumpeterians)
→ one of the few modern economists to put technical change &
entrepreneurship at the root of economic growth
→ goal = to explain role of innovation in economic growth & cyclicality of
the system
→ analyse technical change, characteristics & dynamics innovation
Focus = understanding relationship between technical & organisational
change; technology, economy & institutional context
Link to Bell = link between tech and economic change
→ but she wants to understand the processes behind this
→ does not see society as separate levels, but as a whole interlinked
(eg institutional shapes economic, etc, etc)
→ relationship between technical and organisational change
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms
→ analyse their definition, causal mechanisms, impact on economy &
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms - Perez 1
, institutions + relevance for economic analysis
→ macro phenomena rooted in micro-foundations of technical change
Innovation ↔ invention
= innovative way of utilizing/approaching something ↔ the (tech) product
itself
(eg smartphone = telephone + camera)
Away from techno-deterministic thinking
→ tech possible = much greater than that of the economically profitable &
socially acceptable
→ public (and esp entrepreneurs) has agency in what technology is
invented/innovated (eg through funding)
→ tech innovations have to do with what society is already there =
innovation as process
Decision processes are not random
→ shaped by context of tech, economy & socio-institutional context
Meaningful space where technical change needs to be studied = innovation
→ convergence of tech, economy & socio-institutional context
→ space is dynamic, has a trajectory or paradigm (aka rhythm & direction
of change in tech)
Technological paradigms EXAM QUESTION
Paradigm = agreement on certain basic understandings
= collectively shared logic
Rythm + trajectory + directionality within a possibility space
→ many different possibilities for innovation, but paradigm moves us
forward to a specific one (trajectory)
→ going forward is also defined by the paradigm (directionality)
→ eg what makes the new phone better than the last one, a small
personal phone was the next thing, bc focus on portability &
affordability
→ agency of the public in the directionality, but doesn’t big tech &
governments just decide?
Radical innovation ↔ incremental innovation
→ eg electronic home appliances ↔ electronic mixer, iPhone 1 ↔ apps on
the phone
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms - Perez 2
techno-economic paradigms -
Perez
Class Media technology & society
Recap of last week
What defines societies?
How do societies move from one type to another?
→ basic needs are fulfilled, so space for new needs
→ society = defined by what we do with tech (cf McLuhan)
Bell = implication of tech have little to with the details of the tech itself
→ some critiques like overestimation of service aspect
Tech revolutions and techno-economic paradigms
Few decades to find the first female author in this field
Builds on Schumpeter (aka neo-schumpeterians)
→ one of the few modern economists to put technical change &
entrepreneurship at the root of economic growth
→ goal = to explain role of innovation in economic growth & cyclicality of
the system
→ analyse technical change, characteristics & dynamics innovation
Focus = understanding relationship between technical & organisational
change; technology, economy & institutional context
Link to Bell = link between tech and economic change
→ but she wants to understand the processes behind this
→ does not see society as separate levels, but as a whole interlinked
(eg institutional shapes economic, etc, etc)
→ relationship between technical and organisational change
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms
→ analyse their definition, causal mechanisms, impact on economy &
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms - Perez 1
, institutions + relevance for economic analysis
→ macro phenomena rooted in micro-foundations of technical change
Innovation ↔ invention
= innovative way of utilizing/approaching something ↔ the (tech) product
itself
(eg smartphone = telephone + camera)
Away from techno-deterministic thinking
→ tech possible = much greater than that of the economically profitable &
socially acceptable
→ public (and esp entrepreneurs) has agency in what technology is
invented/innovated (eg through funding)
→ tech innovations have to do with what society is already there =
innovation as process
Decision processes are not random
→ shaped by context of tech, economy & socio-institutional context
Meaningful space where technical change needs to be studied = innovation
→ convergence of tech, economy & socio-institutional context
→ space is dynamic, has a trajectory or paradigm (aka rhythm & direction
of change in tech)
Technological paradigms EXAM QUESTION
Paradigm = agreement on certain basic understandings
= collectively shared logic
Rythm + trajectory + directionality within a possibility space
→ many different possibilities for innovation, but paradigm moves us
forward to a specific one (trajectory)
→ going forward is also defined by the paradigm (directionality)
→ eg what makes the new phone better than the last one, a small
personal phone was the next thing, bc focus on portability &
affordability
→ agency of the public in the directionality, but doesn’t big tech &
governments just decide?
Radical innovation ↔ incremental innovation
→ eg electronic home appliances ↔ electronic mixer, iPhone 1 ↔ apps on
the phone
Technological revolutions & techno-economic paradigms - Perez 2
