IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-05146308.html

From Cowboy to Astronaut: How Can We Limit the Destructive Force of the Tech Leaders’ Vision of Competition?

Author

Listed:
  • Jade Leroueil

    (GRANEM - Groupe de Recherche Angevin en Economie et Management - UA - Université d'Angers - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

Abstract

Technological development consumes energy, depletes natural resources and generates significant carbon emissions and environmental damage (IPCC, 2023). For this reason, and in view of an effective ecological transition, it is essential that industry leaders commit themselves and steer their companies towards a development that is consistent with the challenges of sobriety. Based on qualitative research, this article aims to shed light on the contradictions between environmental objectives and sector managers' "cowboy" vision, particularly regarding their view of competition. Interviews reveal a Darwinian approach to competition, with the underlying idea that there is no monopoly. A logic of conquest, of "always more," drives this vision. This article discusses the role of democratic institutions and legal frameworks in changing tech leaders' attitudes from a Wild West vision of unlimited resources to one of responsibility to society, especially in facing environmental challenges (Boulding 1966).

Suggested Citation

  • Jade Leroueil, 2025. "From Cowboy to Astronaut: How Can We Limit the Destructive Force of the Tech Leaders’ Vision of Competition?," Post-Print hal-05146308, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05146308
    DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2025.2493530
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05146308v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-05146308v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00213624.2025.2493530?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carl Shapiro & Ali Yurukoglu, 2024. "Trends in Competition in the United States: What Does the Evidence Show?," NBER Working Papers 32762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Decker, Ryan A. & Haltiwanger, John & Jarmin, Ron S. & Miranda, Javier, 2016. "Where has all the skewness gone? The decline in high-growth (young) firms in the U.S," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 4-23.
    3. Katz, Michael L., 2021. "Big Tech mergers: Innovation, competition for the market, and the acquisition of emerging competitors," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. David Cayla, 2022. "How the Digital Economy Challenges the Neoliberal Agenda: Lessons from the Antitrust Policies," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 546-553, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tsubuteishi, Kyogo, 2025. "Startup Noncompetes in the Shadow of Acquihiring," MPRA Paper 123852, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ufuk Akcigit & Sina T. Ates, 2023. "What Happened to US Business Dynamism?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(8), pages 2059-2124.
    3. Alon, Titan & Berger, David & Dent, Robert & Pugsley, Benjamin, 2018. "Older and slower: The startup deficit’s lasting effects on aggregate productivity growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 68-85.
    4. Khanh Hoang, 2022. "How does corporate R&D investment respond to climate policy uncertainty? Evidence from heavy emitter firms in the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 936-949, July.
    5. Peter Gal & Alexander Hijzen, 2016. "The short-term impact of product market reforms: A cross-country firm-level analysis," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1311, OECD Publishing.
    6. Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska & Michał Soliwoda & Marlena Grzelczak & Adrian Apanel, 2025. "Financial Innovation in Building Agricultural Sector Resilience: New Horizons and Challenges for Blended Finance in Poland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-25, March.
    7. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2021. "Income inequality, financial intermediation, and small firms," BIS Working Papers 944, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. John C. Haltiwanger, 2022. "Entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Business Formation Statistics," Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 9-42.
    9. Cantarella, Michele & Fraccaroli, Nicolò & Volpe, Roberto, 2024. "Does language prevent policy take-up? Evidence from the Italian Start-up Act," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    10. Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar & Maha Ahmad & David B. Audretsch, 0. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship: the developing country context," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    11. Pierre Lortie, 2019. "Nurturing Global Growth Companies: Time For A New Policy Toolkit," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 12(27), September.
    12. Esmée S. R. Dijk & José L. Moraga‐González & Evgenia Motchenkova, 2024. "How Do Start‐up Acquisitions Affect the Direction of Innovation?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 118-156, March.
    13. Filippo Biondi & Sergio Inferrera & Matthias Mertens & Javier Miranda, 2023. "Declining Business Dynamism in Europe: The Role of Shocks, Market Power, and Technology," Jena Economics Research Papers 2023-011, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    14. German Gutierrez, 2018. "Investigating Global Labor and Pro t Shares," 2018 Meeting Papers 165, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Echeverri-Carroll, Elsie L. & Oden, Michael D. & Gibson, David V. & Johnston, Evan A., 2018. "Unintended consequences on gender diversity of high-tech growth and labor market polarization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 209-217.
    16. Andrew T. Foerster & Andreas Hornstein & Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte & Mark W. Watson, 2022. "Aggregate Implications of Changing Sectoral Trends," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(12), pages 3286-3333.
    17. Giusto, Andrea & İşcan, Talan B., 2019. "Market Power And The Aggregate Saving Rate," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(6), pages 2269-2297, September.
    18. Alex Coad & Julian S. Frankish & Albert N. Link, 2020. "The Economic Contribution of a Cohort of New Firms Over Time," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(3), pages 519-536, November.
    19. Nieto-Carrillo, Ernesto & Carreira, Carlos & Teixeira, Paulino, 2024. "Industrial dynamics in the ICT technological paradigm: The case of Portugal, 1986–2018," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 155-170.
    20. Matias Covarrubias & Germán Gutiérrez & Thomas Philippon, 2019. "From Good to Bad Concentration? US Industries over the Past 30 Years," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2019, volume 34, pages 1-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05146308. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.