Technology, Innovation and Industrial Economics: Institutionalist Perspectives, 1998 Essays in Honor of William E. Cole

Technology, Innovation and Industrial Economics: InstitutionalPerspectives, inspired by the work of William E. Cole, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, extends his work with essays on technology, innovation and industrial economics from an Institutionalist perspective. The managerial style, innovational practices and industrial setting of the continuous improvement firm are central to several chapters. This volume also features innovation and technology in Latin America, Adam Smith's writing on entrepreneurship and a comparison of American and European Institutionalism. The topics of technology, innovation, industrial organization and industrial policy are being widely discussed and debated in today's literature, but seldom from an Institutionalist perspective. The purpose of this book is to reduce substantially this missing dimension in the ongoing debates on these important issues.

1 Introduction.- 2 Industrial Policy and Protectionism in Post-WWII Japan.- 3 The Role of Organization in Shaping the Technological Capabilities of Firms: An Examination of the Continuous Improvement Firm.- 4 The Industrial District and Continuous Improvement.- 5 The Firm: A Strategically Learning Institution.- 6 An Opportunistic Interpretation of Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Interrelations of Inventions, Entrepreneurship and Innovations.- 7 Science, Technology and Innovation: Issues for the Neostructuralist Approach to Socioeconomic Development in Latin America.- 8 Some Possible Differences Between American and European Institutionalism.