How did the wealthiest Britons get so rich?: Comment

It has been argued here that while the Siegfried and Roberts analysis of the wealthiest Britons is interesting, it is flawed in several respects. First, it failed to incorporate correctly the concept of economic rents to fortunes built on personal talents. Second, it failed to recognize explicitly that 25 fortunes, or fully 12.5% of all fortunes, resulted from real estate and other investments that were based on nothing more than lucky speculation. Finally, the authors were surprised to find so many fortunes generated in competitive industries, when in fact, this should be an expected outcome. A different reading of these data suggests that many British fortunes resulted from lucky speculation just as would be expected by Thurow, Scherer and Ross, and many other economists.     

Path Dependence in the Innovation of Complex Technologies

This article investigates three factors that affect the path dependence of complex technologies and the organizational networks that carry out their innovation: culture and institutions, organizational learning, and technology design. Evidence from the rapidly growing body of literature on path dependence and from six case studies of complex technologies (i.e. turbine blades, cardio-imaging technology, audio compact discs (CD's), radiation therapy technology, micro-floppy disks, and microprocessors) is used to investigate the impact of culture, organizational learning, and technology design on path dependence. Three innovation patterns associated with co-evolution of technologies and organizational networks provide the framework used to structure the investigation.     

Technology policy: Fitting concept with reality

We have crossed an historical Rubicon into an era in which the capacity to innovate increasingly complex technologies has created a set of opportunities and problems that make our reductionist and simplistic linear models of policy and governance obsolete. America must base its technology policy on a synthesis of both international experience and new conceptualizations. The most important recent experience with successful technological innovation has taken place in Asia, whereas the most rapid conceptual advances appear to be occurring in Europe and the U.S. Complexity is the key factor in both.