The Role of Technology Standards in Product Innovation : Theory and Evidence from UK Manufacturing Firms Research Policy

Foucart, Renaud and Li, Cher (2021) The Role of Technology Standards in Product Innovation : Theory and Evidence from UK Manufacturing Firms Research Policy. Research Policy, 50 (2): 104157. ISSN 0048-7333

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Abstract

This paper studies the role of technology standards in firms’ product innovation in terms of both incremental innovation (within a technology life cycle) and radical innovation (beyond the present technology cycle). We first develop a theoretical model which predicts that technology standards can be used by firms as an “insurance” hedging against the risky process of developing new products. This insurance mechanism fosters incremental innovation and product growth especially for those further away from the technological frontier. Using data from a weighted panel of UK manufacturing firms over seven years, we find that the use of technology standards over past years significantly enables a firm’s incremental innovation while also reducing its incentive to deliver radical innovation. Additionally, we show that this relationship is contingent on a firm’s R&D intensity in line with predictions of our theoretical model.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Journal or Publication Title:

Research Policy

Additional Information:

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Research Policy. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Research Policy, 50, 2, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104157

Uncontrolled Keywords:

/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1408

Subjects:

?? technology standardsincremental innovationradical innovationr&d intensitystrategy and managementmanagement science and operations researchengineering(all)management of technology and innovation ??

Departments:

Lancaster University Management School > Economics

ID Code:

148744

Deposited By:

ep_importer_pure

Deposited On:

02 Nov 2020 15:05

Refereed?:

Yes

Published?:

Published

Last Modified:

23 Jan 2024 01:28

URI:

https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/148744