New technological path creation and the role of institutions in different geo-political spaces

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the roles of institutions in facilitating or impeding the creation of new technological pathways in different countries. It is argued that the successful invention, innovation and diffusion of new technologies require the co-evolution of relevant institutions. It is argued that informal institutions, through their impact on people’s beliefs, perceptions and consequential behaviour, crucially influence whether formal institutions co-evolve with technological development and changing circumstances. At the same time, the rigidity of the pre-existing formal institutional arrangements impacts on whether agents can stimulate their co-evolution with the introduction of new technologies. These arguments are explored by comparing the creation of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany since the 1970s.

KEYWORDS:

• New path creation
• institutions
• agents
• wind power
• Britain & Germany

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for helpful comments from Jörg Sydow, Michaela Trippl, anonymous referees and participants at the Annual Conference of the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economics and Society held at St. Catherine’s College in July 2017. Despite their best efforts, any remaining faults remain with the authors.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Scotland represents a special outlying and devolved case within Britain where a lively supply industry for renewable energy and in particular for wind has developed in the years since the devolution of much of its strategic agenda through the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1998 (Dawley et al., 2014; RenewableUK, 2016).