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Incremental innovations, information contagion, and path dependence: the case of drinking water purification technologies in urban India

Author

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  • Nazia Talat
  • Saradindu Bhaduri

Abstract

Recent scholarship on technological path dependence has questioned the credibility of many previous studies for basing their analyses on cases settled in the past. Such cases often do not provide adequate insights into the historical contingencies, nature of incremental innovations, and the type of feedback mechanisms between consumers and producers of technologies. In addition, most of the cases dealing with path dependence focus on firms as users of technology, and miss out on the influence the consumers may have in shaping path dependence. We take the case of water purification technologies in India, where the technologies are still evolving, and analyze the path dependence implications of their evolution by taking the case of urban households with piped water supply. Using patent data, scientific studies, as well as interviews with firms and individuals, we analyze how through various incremental innovations and information contagion, reverse osmosis technologies demonstrate the features of path dependence, leading, possibly, to lock-in.

Suggested Citation

  • Nazia Talat & Saradindu Bhaduri, 2017. "Incremental innovations, information contagion, and path dependence: the case of drinking water purification technologies in urban India," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(6), pages 1089-1108.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:26:y:2017:i:6:p:1089-1108.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtx010
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Beniamino Callegari & Christophe Feder, 2022. "The long-term economic effects of pandemics: toward an evolutionary approach [Epidemics and trust: the case of the Spanish flu]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(3), pages 715-735.
    2. Jir? Zelen? & Krist?na Bedn?rov?, 2019. "Reverse Osmosis Water-Based Beverages as a Product Innovation in Gastronomic Facilities: Expert Panelists? Sensory Evaluation and Generation Y Consumers? Attitudes," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 21(1), pages 49-72.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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