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Original Articles

Regime shifts to sustainability through processes of niche formation: The approach of strategic niche management

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Pages 175-198 | Published online: 26 Jun 2007

References

  • For comments and suggestions, we would like to thank Boelie Elzen, Arie Rip, two reviewers and all project partners involved in the EU-SEER support project on strategic niche management.
  • Such systems consist of a fleet of vehicles that can be rented for short periods, and central management that controls their location and disposition. Examples are the Praxitele and TULIP systems currently experimented with in France.
  • Irwin , A. and Hooper , P. 1992 . Clean Technology, Successful Innovation and the Greening of Industry . Business Strategy and the Environment , 1 : 1 – 11 . and K. Green & I. Miles, ‘A Clean Break? From Corporate Research and Development to Sustainable Technological Regimes’, in: R. Welford & R. Starkey (Eds), Business and the Environment (London, Earthscan Publications 1996), pp. 129-144
  • van de Ven , A.H. 1986 . Central Problems in the Management of Innovation . Management Science , 32 : 590 – 607 .
  • Hard , M. and Knie , A. 1994 . “ The Ruler of the Game: the Defining Power of the Standard Automobile ” . In The Past, Present and Future of the Motorcar in Europe , Edited by: Sorensen , K.H. 137 – 158 . Luxembourg : European Commission .
  • Abernathy , W.J. and Utterback , J.M. 1978 . Patterns of Industrial Innovation . Technology Review , 50 : 41 – 47 . See also J. M. Utterback, Mastaring he Qynamics of Innovation (Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 1994)
  • Dosi , G. 1982 . Technological Paradigms and Technological Trajectories: A Suggested Interpretation of the Determinants and Directions of Technical Change . Research Policy , 6 : 147 – 162 . G. Dosi, ‘The Nature of the Innovation Process’, in G. Dosi, C. Freeman, R. Nelson, G. Silverberg & L. Soete (Eds), Technical Change and Economic Theory (London, Pinter Publishers, 1988), pp. 22 1-238. R. R. Nelson & amp;S. G. Winter, ‘In Search of Useful Theory of Innovation’, Research Policy, 6, 1977, pp. 36-76; R. R. Nelson & S. G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (Cambridge, MA, Bellknap Press, 1982)
  • Dosi . 1982 . op. cit , 6 : 153 Ref 7
  • Nelson and Winter . 1977 . op. cit , 6 : 57 Ref 7
  • Dosi , G. 1988 . Sources, Procedures and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation . Journal of Economic Litnature , 26 : 1120 – 1171 .
  • Rip , A. 1992 . A Quasi-evolutionary Model of Technological Development and a Cognitive Approach to Technology Policy . Rwista di Studi Epistemologici e Sociali Sulla Scienza e la Tecnolopia , 2 : 69 – 103 . For this reason, Rip and Schot have been advancing quasi-evolutionary theories based on a conceptualization of the interaction between selection environment and the variation process. In their conceptualization, variation and selection are neither independent nor coincidental processes. Selection may be anticipated, temporarily excluded or attenuated in the variation process (through processes of niche formation). In addition, institutional links exist between variation and selection, the so-called technological nexus. J. Schot, ‘The Policy-relevance of the Quasi-evolutionary Model: The Case of Stimulating Clean Technologies’, in: R. Coombs, P. Saviotti & V. Walsh (Eds), Technological Change and Company Strategies (London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992), pp. 185-200; J. Schot, ‘The Usefulness of Evolutionary Models for Explaining Innovation. The Case of The Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century’, History, and Technology, forthcoming
  • Elzen , B. , Hoogma , R. and Schot , J. 1996 . Mobilieit met Toekomt. Naar een Vraaggericht Technologiebeleid , The Hague : Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat . The discussion of these barriers and included empirical examples are taken from Report for the Dutch
  • Elzen . 1996 . op. cit , Ref 12
  • The ZEV legislation may be changed to include hybrid-electric vehicles, to be defined as 'equivalent zero emissions veh
  • Kemp , R. and Soete , L. 1992 . The Greening of Technological Progress: An Evolutionary Perspective . Futures , 24 : 437 – 457 . For this notion
  • Since an exhaust gas catalyst does not function well at low temperatures, pre-heating the catalyst markedly reduces the level of harmful emissions. The catalyst can be pre-heated with electricity from the grid or with a device that stores engine heat and releases it when the engine is started. Petrol cars can be equipped with a pre-heated catalyst without further changes to the vehicle. Alternative, cold-start emissions may be stored and treated when the catalyst is warmed up.
  • Porac , J.F. , Rosa , J.A. and Saxon , M.S. . America's Family Vehicle: The Minivan Market as an Enacted Conceptual System . Paper for the Multidisciplinary International Workshop on Path Creation and Dependence . August , Copenhagen Business School .
  • The typical range of a current generation electric vehicle is 100 km, the top speed 90 km/h, and charging takes some 6 hours. Refuelling a natural gas vehicle also takes longer than refuelling a conventional car. On the other hand, hybrid-electric cars have none of these disadvantages. Their market introduction could thus be as successful as that of the minivans. Even the cost aspect is comparable: minivans are substantially more expensive than conventional cars and so are hybrids expected to be.
  • Dosi . 1997 . op. cit , August Ref 7 Nelson & Winter op. cit., Ref. 7
  • Nelson and Winter . 1997 . Ibid , August
  • Rip , A. and Kemp , R. 1998 . “ Human Choice and Climate Change ” . In Resources and Technology , Edited by: Rayner , S. and Malone , E.L. Vol. II , Washington, DC : Batelle Press . The selection environment is also shaped by the experience of users and the adjustment of users (both companies and consumers) to particular technologies. For a discussion of co-evolution of technology and society, A. H. Molina, ‘In Search of Insights into the Generation of Technoeconomic Trends: Micro- and Macro-constituencies in the Microprocessor Industry’, Research Policy, 22, 1993, pp. 479-506. Molina does not refer to the concept of co-evolution, but argues in similar way (pp. 483): “Sociotechnical constituencies may be defined as dynamic ensembles of technical constituents (tools, machines, etc.) and social constituents (people and their values, interest groups, etc.), which interact and shape each other in the course the creation, production and diffusion of specific technologies. Thus the term ‘sociotechnical consituencies’ emphasises the idea of interrelatedment. It makes it possible to think of technical constituents and social constituents stressing the point that in the technological process both kind of constituents merge into each other.” Finally, we refer to R. Garud & M. A. Rappa, ‘A Socio-cognitive Model of Technological Evolution: The Case of Cochlear Implants’, Organization Science, 5, 1994, pp. 344-362
  • Rip and Kemp . 1998 . op. cit , Ref 21 the structured nature of a technological regime is accentuated by defining a technological regime as the coherent complex of scientific knowledges, engineering practices, production process technologies, product characteristics, skills and procedures, and institutions and infrastructures that are labelled in terms of a certain technology (for example, a computer), mode of work organization (for example, the Fordist system of mass production) or key input (like steel or hydrocarbons). Since the accommodation between the elements in the complex in never perfect, it is perhaps better to talk about a semi-coherent complex. For similar definitions see R. Kemp, ‘Technology and the Transition to Environmental Sustainability. The Problem of Technological Regime Shifts’, Futures, 26, 1994, pp. 1023- 1046; R. Kemp, Environmental Policy and Technical Change. A Comparison of the Technological Impact of Polky Instruments (Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1997)
  • Hughes , T.P. 1983 . Networks of Power. Ekctnjicatwn in Western Society 1880-1930 , Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press . Large technical systems as defined by Thomas Hughes can be seen as a special kind of regime, one in which material connections and the building up of an infrastructure are crucial to its diffusion. This creates special effects (the importance of load management), and leads to what Hughes has called momentum
  • It is important to note that a technological regime does not fix technological choices, but is open to various kinds of change--at the level of regime components and even the overall architecture. Technological regimes change in conjunction with the evolution of social needs, technological possibilities and organizational change like new management systems.
  • Rosenberg . 1976 . “ The Direction of Technological Change: Inducement Mechanisms and Focussing Devices ” . In Perspectives on Technology , 108 – 125 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . his book Fransman, Market and Beyond. Cooperation and Competition in Information technology in the Japanese system (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990)
  • Kemp , R. and Miles , I. 1994 . “ Technology and the Transition to Environmental Stability. Continuity and Change in Complex Technology Systems, final report of the project ” . In Technological Paradigms and Transition Paths: The Case of Energy Technologies , Edited by: Smith , K. programme of the Commission of the European Communities (DG-XII) . for the SEER research
  • When steamships entered the market, sailing ship manufacturers stepped up their efforts to improve sailing ships in order to protect their business. This resulted in great improvements which helped sailing ships to survive the competition for a certain while.
  • Rip , A. 1995 . Introduction of New Technology: Making Use of Recent Insights from Sociology and Economics of Technology . Technology Analysis & Strategic Management , 7 : 417 – 431 .
  • Hughes . 1995 . op. cit , 7 Ref 23
  • For these and other examples see Schot, forthcoming, op. cit., Ref. 11.
  • The use of process management as a means of social-political governance has been advocated by various policy scientists. See, for instance, J. Kooiman (Ed.), M o h Govmnce. Nezn Gouernment- Somty Interachnj (London, Sage, 1993); P. Glasbergen (Ed.), Managing Environmental Dirputes. Network Management os an Alternatwe (Dordrecht, Kluwer, 1994).
  • Schot . 1995 . op. cit , 7 For these and other examples forthcoming, Ref 11
  • Schot , J.W. , Elzen , B. and Hoogma , R. 1994 . Strategies for Shifting Technological Systems. The Case of the Automobile System . Futures , 26 : 1060 – 1076 . J. Schot & A. Rip, ‘The Past and Future of Constructive Technology Assessment’, T
  • We specifically include the adjective 'strategic' in the label of the approach, to stress the importance of anticipation. In running an experiment, the actors should adopt a forward-looking perspective, by anticipating emerging opportunities and possible threats that create, widen or close windows of opportunity.
  • Green , K. 1994 . Creating Demand for Biotechnology: Shaping Technologies and Markets , : 164 – 184 . Coombs et al., op. cit., Ref. 11
  • Teubal , M. 1997 . A Catalytic Evolutionary Approach to Horizontal Technology Policies . Research Policy , 25 : 1161 – 1188 . Teubal calls for technology policy as a succession of experiments p. 1165
  • Schot , J. 1997 . op. cit , 25 Ref 33
  • Rip , A. 1992 . A Quasi-evolutionary Model of Technological Development and a Cognitive Approach to Technology Policy . Rivista di Studi Epistnnolgici e Sociali Sulla Scienza e la Technologie , 2 : 69 – 103 . For a discussion of technological expectations, H. van Lente, ‘Promising Technology. The Dynamics of Expectations in Technological Developments’, PhD thesis, Enschede, University of Twente, 1993
  • Clark , K.B.B. 1985 . The Interaction of Design Hierarchies and Market Concepts in Technological Evolution . Research Policy , 14 : 235 – 251 . For the notion of articulation process we refer to
  • Under the Dutch road tax system, electric vehicles fall in the heavily taxed 'rest' category; moreover, road vehicles are taxed according to their weight, which puts electric vehicles, with their heavy batteries, at a disadvantage. To take care of this problem, the Dutch government announced that it would give a tax break and investment subsidy to electric vehicles. A similar policy exists in the UK where electric vehicles are exempted from excise taxes.
  • Schot . 1985 . op. cit , 14 Ref 32
  • Rip and Kemp . 1985 . op. cit , 14 Ref 21 Molina, op. cit., Ref. 21
  • Rip , A. , Misa , J. and Schot , J. 1995 . Managing technology in Society. in Approach of Constructive Technology Assessment , London : Pinter Publishers .
  • Wallace , D. 1995 . Environmental Policy and Industnil Innovation. Strakgzes in Europe, US and Japan , London : Earthscan Publishers .
  • David , P.A. 1992 . Path-dependence in Economic Processes: Implications for Policy Analysis in Dynamical System Contexts Stanford CEPR discussion paper

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