1、1,Technological Revolutions and Economic Development,B. Verspagen, 2005 The Economics of Technological Change Chapter 3,2,Introduction,The different aspects of the long-run impact of technological change on the economy from the viewpoint of economic history Ideal theoretical framework: Schumpeterian
2、 theory of economic growth Marxian way of analysis in the long-run process of economic growth,3,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,Fluctuations in the rate of economic growth that will span a very long period Fluctuations (long waves) or Kondratiev waves The occurrence of fluctuations i
3、n the rate of economic growth means that periods of relatively high growth rates will alternate with periods of low growth rates Four phases: upswing (increasing growth rates), prosperity (the increasing growth rates settling down at a high level), recession (growth rates start to slow down again) a
4、nd depression (growth rates settling at a relatively low level) A cyclical pattern spanning a period of 40-60 years,4,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,What role technology may play in the long waves? Schumpeters theory was about the role of major (basic) innovations in driving long wa
5、ves: the analysis of the economic impact of basic innovations The starting point of the wave is the occurrence of basic innovation (may also be a set of interrelated innovations like the notion of a technological paradigm) These basic innovations provide the upswing of a new long wave,5,Technologica
6、l Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,The basic innovations introduced by entrepreneurs: visionary business man who recognizes the commercial opportunities of the basic innovations when others and consumers do not who is skilled in terms of running the type of business that is needed to make the basic
7、 innovations into a success or in the art of innovation Later, Schumpeter put less emphasis on such personal characteristics of the entrepreneur and the role of the entrepreneur in the innovation process started to be taken over by large firms,6,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,The co
8、mmercial opportunities of the basic innovations attract imitators The radical innovations tend to cluster because first some then most firms follow in the wake of successful innovation This imitation and diffusion process not consist of mere copying of the original innovation but rather as increment
9、al improvements The bandwagon of imitations: higher growth rates taking the economy into the upswing A multiplier process because as imitators expand their activities, investment in capital and workers required,7,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,The upswing is not only a process of ex
10、pansion but also includes the productive capital to be adopting: a choice between adopting new technology or going out of business Creative destruction: the dual nature of expansion and substitution taking place during the upswing phase The bandwagon of imitation makes the upswing happen but also im
11、plies that profit rates of the firms pushing the new technology will gradually be eroded Profit rates that were high due to large technological opportunities and the absence of competition, start to decrease as more firms enter increasing the level of competition Eventually, profit rates and overall
12、 growth rates settling down at the prosperity phase,8,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,Continuation of competition and erosion of technological opportunities leads to a decline in the growth rates, setting in the recession Technology matures and competition between firms takes the for
13、m of price competition The diffusion of basic innovations gets saturated as all potential users have adopted the technology Markets are no longer expanding and depend on replacement of old products,9,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,The recession turns into a depression when Saturatio
14、n gets almost compete The intensity of price competition reaches a peak Technological opportunities for further improvements of the technological paradigm have dried up The economy approaches a zero profit level The need for a new set of basic innovations becomes very high, that is when the process
15、starts all over again with the next wave of basic innovations: new upswing,10,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,The description of the rise and fall of a set of basic innovations is called the primary cycle This may be re-enforced by a secondary cycle that is driven by investment in fi
16、nancial assets How about the timing of the swarms of innovations? If swarms were spread out evenly over time with short time intervals between them, a more smooth pattern of economic growth might result Kuznet: Schumpeters theory need to elaborate on the reasons why swarms of innovations would be sp
17、read unevenly over time although Schumpeter pointed out the pervasive nature of some innovations,11,Technological Revolutions: Schumpeterian Theory,Re-birth of Schumpeters theory: 1970s when the economy was slowing down and the depression phase of the long wave had set in Mensch: a new theory of the
18、 relation between long waves and basic innovations Basic innovations cluster during the depression phase of the long wave, contrary to Schumpeters original view that swarms of innovations would occur during the upswing due to imitation Firms under bounded rationality would display satisficing behavi
19、or Firms will not be actively searching for new basic innovations when high profit rates leading to a focus of attention on the existing technological paradigm (the upswing or prosperity phase) Firms will start searching for basic innovations when profit rates start to decrease (the late stage of re
20、cession and the depression phase),12,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Interpretation of the Schumpeterian theory of technological revolutions and long waves Five technological revolutions in the history of modern capitalism Each of these revolutions is characterized by a
21、 small number of carrying basic innovations, together constituting a technological paradigm,13,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,14,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The Industrial Revolution (1780-1840) Starts with the Industrial Revolution in
22、 Britain Represented a shift from a small-scale production system based largely on human and animal power to a mechanized way of production in factories The main field of application was the production of textiles and iron,15,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,In (cotton)
23、textiles industry, 3 major innovations were responsible for the increase in the productivity in spinning Spinning jenny (1764), water wheel (1769) and Cromptons mule that is a cross- over of the jenny and the water wheel (1779) The rapid expansion of production had to be met by an improved system fo
24、r the transportation of the products Rapid investment in transport infrastructure, canals and roads Shipping over seas (British ports),16,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Iron-making industry The blast furnace: the supply of wood that was needed to produce charcoal, a ma
25、jor obstacle Solution: the usage of coke (technological change) The other bottleneck: power source Contrary to what is known: steam power not play a major role in powering the emerging factories in Britain Industrial Revolution powered mainly by water wheels, that factories or blast furnaces had to
26、be located close to a river,17,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The increased productivity due to technological innovations in the textile industry did not only lead to increase in the scale of production but also led to a major organizational change Before Industrial Re
27、volution, the production system depended on small scale equipment that could be operated by a single worker without special infrastructure With large scale machines operated by other means than human power, production concentrated in a central place where many workers would be present at the same ti
28、me with a power source to operate the machines available The birth of modern factory and the Capitalist mode of production that Marx described A physical relocation of the workers and the emergence of the proletarian class,18,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The factory
29、system, the Capitalist system, dependent on efforts by single individuals both in terms of innovative activity and the financing of start-up firms A capital market? Schumpeter emphasizing the role of entrepreneurship in industrial revolutions Preliminary conclusions: Technological innovations may le
30、ad to rapid increases in productivity, but it will generally take some time to realize their full impact on the economy (linking to the Schumpeterian idea of long waves) Technology is accompanied by and conditioned on re-organization of the system of production,19,Technological Revolutions: Freemans
31、 Interpretation of History,The Age of Steam Power and Railways (1840-1890) The second wave of major innovations related to revolutionary developments in transportation and the powering of the factories The major innovation: steam power The application of steam power in factories (flexibility in term
32、s of choosing location) and in transportation The new applications of steam saw the spread of industrialization to the European continent (Belgium, Germany) and the US These countries took over part of British technologies and in many cases improved on it (steam engines in the US),20,Technological R
33、evolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The steam power actually an innovation that emerged during the previous long wave As steam power taking control of the economy, the technological paradigm that was going to replace steam power, electricity was slowly being invented The main application
34、of electricity during the age of steam and railways was the telegraph Together with the railways, the telegraph increased communication between different parts of the country At the same time there were innovations laying the foundation for the chemical industry that was going to rise during the nex
35、t waves,21,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The institutional changes: the joint-stock company and stock market Facilitated the raising of capital for the establishment of new firms and decreased the dependence on personal capital The type of speculative behavior by inve
36、stors having high expectations of firms applying new technologies: that is the main driving force of the Schumpeters secondary wave,22,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The Age of Electricity and Steel (1890-1940) Both steel and electricity invented decades ago but the fu
37、ll impact towards 20th century Both of the new paradigms were most rapidly growing and spreading in the US Edison, lamp, dynamo, generators, AC electricity net: diffusion took off rapidly For factories, electricity represented a power source that was more mobile and flexible than steam engine Space
38、saved, the system of decentralized motors, less sensitive to breakdowns In the first years of the 20th century that this system of decentralized motors have been applied due to habit of doing things the old way and the costs of capital locked up in equipment,23,Technological Revolutions: Freemans In
39、terpretation of History,The diffusion path that takes a technological paradigm to its full potential depends not only on incremental technical innovations but also requires organizational innovations Steam and electricity: used in all sectors of economy after long period of diffusion and improvement
40、, increased productivity and growth at macroeconomic level The steel was much tougher than pig iron that was the main material used in the first and second industrial waves The incremental innovations in steel production lead to increase in productivity and a fall in prices (like phenomenon spinning
41、 during the Industrial Revolution) The strong performance of American companies in the electricity and steel paradigms led a take-over of economic and technological leadership from Britain by this country,24,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Why US leadership? US possesse
42、d a large and homogenous market As the new technologies were capital intensive and displayed important scale effects, this led to production costs falling when served to a larger market US were abundant in natural resources, including land and minerals This gave American firms an important cost adva
43、ntage and helped them to keep the prices low and hence serve a large market and reap the scale economies of the new paradigm The liberal “American spirit” was aimed at entrepreneurship and capitalist investment and was also very much open to change and the introduction of new technologies,25,Technol
44、ogical Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Changes in the type of firms due to scale economies: the giant management-led firm (DuPont) Managerial capitalism: General Electric The rise of professional manager himself The growth by means or mergers and take-overs Taylorism: the principle o
45、f division of labor, breaking down the production process into simple tasks, each of which could be standardized and timed (the amount of work to be optimized),26,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Large managerial companies were well suited to take the advantage of econom
46、ies of scale (decreasing unit costs resulting from an increase in the scale of production) and scope (knowledge may be used for several product families) The giant-management led firm causing to a shift away from the individual inventor in the technological process: introduction of R&D departments T
47、he first R&D laboratories emerged in Germany in the chemical industry from 1870,27,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,The Age of Mass Production (1940-1990) Reliance on scale economies and mass-production in the US spread to Western European countries and NICs The adoption
48、 of mass-production methods led to significant rise of labor productivity levels relative to the US: Abramovitz catch-up boom The expansion of mass-production depended on application and spread of automobile (internal combustion engine) and (petro) chemical technology, again had been around for some
49、 time,28,Technological Revolutions: Freemans Interpretation of History,Henry Fords Model T in 1908 Managerial capitalism Introduction of the assembly line in the production process: a process innovation that was characteristic of the Taylorist way of producing Breaking down the task of assembling an
50、 automobile into small parts and giving workers a standard (and small) amount of time to carry out this task High productivity, relatively low prices of the final product led to rapid growth of the sales of the Model-T Ford Applied in factories producing in mass volumes Disadvantage: decreased the quality of work, repetition of tasks and mental stress resulting from the steadily moving belt,
