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The Product-Cycle Model: A Critique

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  • M Taylor

    (Department of Human Geography, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia)

Abstract

The product-cycle model is an important explanatory device that has been used extensively in geography. However, it is also a model with significant limiting assumptions that have not been adequately taken into account when it has been used. In this paper the problems and limitations imposed on the model by the assumptions it contains are outlined. Six broad aspects of the model are addressed: the ambiguity of the enterprise context implied in the model; its treatment of the processes of invention and innovation; its simplification of the nature of products; assumptions about scale, labour, and relocation to less developed countries; location-specific advantages; and the relationship of the model to other cycles operating within the business environment. The limitations of the product-cycle model, as it is used in geography, are attributed to the inadequate conceptualisation of the firm, that still persists in the discipline.

Suggested Citation

  • M Taylor, 1986. "The Product-Cycle Model: A Critique," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 18(6), pages 751-761, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:18:y:1986:i:6:p:751-761
    DOI: 10.1068/a180751
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vernon, Raymond, 1979. "The Product Cycle Hypothesis in a New International Environment," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 41(4), pages 255-267, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll, 1994. "Flexible Linkages and Offshore Assembly Facilities in Developing Countries," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 49-73, April.
    2. Jochem, Patrick & Schleich, Joachim, 2011. "Exploring the factors driving automotive exports in OECD countries," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S4/2011, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    3. Bjerke, Lina & Karlsson, Charlie, 2009. "Metropolitan Regions and Product Innovation," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 166, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    4. Wojan, Timothy R. & McGranahan, David A., 2007. "Ambient Returns: Creative Capital's Contribution to Local Manufacturing Competitiveness," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 133-148, April.
    5. Rees, John, 2001. "The Landscapes of Liberty," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 31(2), pages 111-120, Fall.
    6. Brouwer, Erik & Budil-Nadvornikova, Hana & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 1997. "Are urban agglomerations a better breeding place for product innovation? ˜ product innovation?," Serie Research Memoranda 0039, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    7. Ron Boschma, 2015. "Do spinoff dynamics or agglomeration externalities drive industry clustering? A reappraisal of Steven Klepper’s work," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 859-873.
    8. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2010. "The Place of Path Dependence in an Evolutionary Perspective on the Economic Landscape," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Erik Brouwer & Hana Budil-Nadvornikova & Alfred Kleinknecht, 1999. "Are Urban Agglomerations a Better Breeding Place for Product Innovation? An Analysis of New Product Announcements," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 541-549.
    10. Henry Wai-chung Yeung & Jessie Poon & Martin Perry, 2001. "Towards a Regional Strategy: The Role of Regional Headquarters of Foreign Firms in Singapore," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(1), pages 157-183, January.

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