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Growing by Leaps and Inches: Creative Destruction, Real Cost Reduction, and Inching Up

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Author Info
Michael R. Darby
Lynne G. Zucker

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Abstract

Most firms achieve perfective progress, incrementally improving commodities or productivity. But technological progress is concentrated in a few firms achieving metamorphic progress: forming or transforming industries with technological breakthroughs (e.g., biotechnology, lasers, semiconductors, nanotechnology). Unless congruent with incumbents' science and technology base, metamorphic progress promotes entry. Scientific breakthroughs embodied in discovering scientists, protected by natural excludability, and transferred by learning-by-doing-with at the bench generally drive metamorphic progress. Embodied knowledge is rivalrous and leads to entry and industry dominance by star-scientist-linked firms. Incorporating this scientific-entrepreneurial process is essential to improving - if not transforming - endogenous growth models.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8947.

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Date of creation: May 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8947

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O30 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - General
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Griliches, Zvi, 1990. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 1661-1707, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Richard R. Nelson, 1959. "The Economics of Invention: A Survey of the Literature," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32, pages 101. [Downloadable!]
  3. Zucker, Lynne G & Darby, Michael R, 2001. " Capturing Technological Opportunity via Japan's Star Scientists: Evidence from Japanese Firms' Biotech Patents and Products," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 26(1-2), pages 37-58, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Adam B. Jaffe, 1986. "Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D: Evidence from Firms' Patents, Profits and Market Value," NBER Working Papers 1815, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Michael R. Darby & Lynne G. Zucker, 2002. "Going Public When You Can in Biotechnology," NBER Working Papers 8954, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 1991. "On the application of robust, regression- based diagnostics to models of conditional means and conditional variances," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 5-46, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
  12. Klevorick, Alvin K. & Levin, Richard C. & Nelson, Richard R. & Winter, Sidney G., 1995. "On the sources and significance of interindustry differences in technological opportunities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 185-205, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Maximo Torero, 2000. "Analyzing the Spillover Mechanism on the Semiconductor Industry in the Silicon Valley and Route 128," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0090, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  14. George J. Stigler, 1961. "The Economics of Information," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69, pages 213. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. John V. Duca & Mine K. Yücel, 2002. "An overview of science and cents: exploring the economics of biotechnology," Economic and Financial Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [Downloadable!]
  2. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2003. "Buzz: Face-to-Face Contact and the Urban Economy," CEP Discussion Papers dp0598, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Michael R. Darby & Lynne G. Zucker, 2006. "Innovation, Competition and Welfare-Enhancing Monopoly," NBER Working Papers 12094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Michael R. Darby & Lynne G. Zucker & Andrew Wang, 2003. "Universities, Joint Ventures, and Success in the Advanced Technology Program," NBER Working Papers 9463, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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