The evolution of IT innovations in Swedish organizations: a Darwinian critique of ‘Lamarckian’ institutional economics

Fundamental correspondence and analogies between the evolution of technological and biological innovations call for an ‘innovation Darwinian’, ‘universal Darwinian’ or ‘memetic’ approach to understanding technology innovation. Neo-institutional, in fact pseudo-Lamarckian evolutionary economic theory, represented by North, Nelson and Winter, Freeman and others, is criticized. Pseudo-Lamarckian (“by volition”) evolution is explained and analyzed on Darwinian grounds (as intentional and artificial selection), as is Schumpeter’s definitions of creative and imitative innovation. Data from a web survey among Swedish public and private organizations in 1999 are studied. Data show that Darwinian co-evolutionary interaction between producers and users or clients provide essential conditions and stronger influence on creative IT innovations than both ‘Lamarckian’ strategies and competition.

Jan Tinbergen: A Quatitative Economist ∗

This paper sees a systematic unity between Smith's theological view and scientific study of society. Smith's theological outlook as to a benevolent deity is grasped as a metaphysical doctrine in his system of social science. It arises from the fact that while Smith's opinion concerning God's attributes is established, in the first instance, on the basis of his empirical study of nature, it also stands irrespective of other facts which are not in line with the patterns of order and design. Smith's metaphysical proposition as such is methodologically suggestive in that it proposes theoretical possibilities for progress and harmony and rules out the features of conflict at the analytic level. This implies a difficulty in subscribing to a conventional interpretation that introduces the “two Smiths's” view (the duality of his method and vision).     

The Relevant Market for Production and Wholesale of Electricity in the Nordic Countries: An Econometric Study*

We apply cointegration analysis to daily averages of Nord Pool prices covering the period 2001–2007 in order to empirically characterize the geographical dimension of the relevant market for production and wholesale of electricity. We reach the following econometric conclusions: (i) price areas Finland, Sweden, and Norway 3 unambiguously belong to the same relevant market; (ii) Denmark 2 belongs to this same market except for the subsample 2004–2007; (iii) Norway 1 and Denmark 1 define separate markets on their own. We find that the stochastic trends in Nord Pool prices originate in countries abundant in capacity to generate hydro power.     

Testing Growth Convergence with Time Series Data— a non-parametric approach

A non-parametric time series testing is suggested to analyse the convergence of international output per-capita gaps. Non-parametric tests are based on signs and ranks of time series properties of output differences. The methods are applied to logs of USA percapita income differences for 16 OECD countries from 1900-97. In contrast to the results obtained by Bernard & Durlauf (1995) for the period 1900-87, convergence of output gaps was evident for the majority of countries. However, the trends in 1970-97 and 1987-97 are noticeably more complicated than the homogeneous convergence found in the pre-1970 period. The results indicate that widening USA gaps are now more likely to emerge than steady-state or narrowing gaps.     

Does venture opportunity variation matter? Investigating systematic process differences between innovative and imitative new ventures

The central thesis in the article is that the venture creation process is different for innovative versus imitative ventures. This holds up; the pace of the process differs by type of venture as do, in line with theory-based hypotheses, the effects of certain human capital (HC) and social capital (SC) predictors. Importantly, and somewhat unexpectedly, the theoretically derived models using HC, SC, and certain controls are relatively successful explaining progress in the creation process for the minority of innovative ventures, but achieve very limited success for the imitative majority. This may be due to a rationalistic bias in conventional theorizing and suggests that there is need for considerable theoretical development regarding the important phenomenon of new venture creation processes. Another important result is that the building up of instrumental social capital, which we assess comprehensively and as a time variant construct, is important for making progress with both types of ventures, and increasingly, so as the process progresses. This result corroborates with stronger operationalization and more appropriate analysis method what previously published research has only been able to hint at.

More than meets the eye: videography and production of desire in semiocapitalism

ABSTRACT

In the light of the recent proliferation of interest in videographic methods in marketing and consumer research, we wish to make a call for thinking critically about the medium. In this article, we challenge traditional means of semiotic analysis and consider contexts outside aesthetic symbolism that take into account wider agencements of videographic inquiry. We sensitise thinking about videographic production to include a broad scope of influence beyond production and spectatorship. By positing a mode of desiring relationalities in ‘semiocapitalist’ markets, and through the illustrative example of pop-music videos, we show how videography not only produces symbols, but also has the tendency to discipline the viewer into particular subjective positions. We hope to add to the conceptual toolkit of aspiring video scholars and encourage them to be increasingly critical and reflexive about their potential impact.     

A dual theory approach to estimating risk preferences in the parimutuel betting market

This paper introduces an alternative empirical approach to estimating risk preferences in the parimutuel betting market using a dual theory model which is amended to include bettors’ misperceptions of probabilities. We replicate previous empirical results and test our alternative empirical approach using parimutuel horse race betting data. Our results suggest that while bettors are risk-averse, they are also prone to misperceiving probabilities by overweighting low probabilities and underweighting high probabilities. As an application, these results replicate the choice patterns consistent with the Allais paradox.     

Trend model testing of growth convergence in 15 OECD countries, 1946-1997

A framework based on a linear deterministic trend function is introduced in order to model growth convergence. The approach is a practical solution to the nonlinearity and nonstationarity found in the convergence of output-per-capita gaps between the USA and 14 OECD countries in 1946–1997. Convergence is found to be a typical feature of European OECD countries and Japan, but for some major countries it altered since the beginning of 1980. Some evidence of divergence exists too. Valid statistical inference on trend-growth estimates is based on sample-size standardized t - and Wald-test statistics, since the model residuals are close to I(1). Small-sample test values are derived using bootstrap methods.