Process Of Technical Change Research Articles

Net Zero in the Maelstrom: Professional Practice for Net Zero in a Time of Turbulent Change

The net zero transition is examined as a process of technical change that has rapidly accelerated and now faces social, economic and political transformations that can enable this rapid transition. The illustration of a maelstrom, with barrels that can enable survival, is used to show that professional practice during the turbulent period of change needs new net zero standards reflected in new processes and regulations for business accounting, energy, urban and transport planning, as well as new approaches for the just transition and Indigenous/local engagement. Australian examples are provided to show the beginning of such a maelstrom process to illustrate the significance of this agenda in 2023.

The effects of technical change on carbon intensity in China’s non-ferrous metal industry

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of non-ferrous metals. With a characteristic of energy-intensive, China’s non-ferrous metal industry is under enormous pressure to reduce carbon emissions. Accelerating the process of technical change is an effective way to reduce the carbon intensity of the non-ferrous metal industry. Based on industry data from 30 Chinese provinces during 2005–2017, this study calculated the technical change and corresponding decompositions utilising the slacks-based measure method and the Malmquist-Luenberger index. Subsequently, the impact of technical change on carbon intensity in terms of magnitude and direction is discussed, and the mediation effects among three technical change indexes and carbon intensity are analysed. The research results show that (1) during 2005–2017, the technical change of China’s nonferrous metal industry presented an overall growth trend, mainly contributed by the magnitude technical change. Simultaneously, there was variation in the technical change among the provinces. (2) The progress of magnitude technical change could continuously reduce carbon intensity in China’s non-ferrous metal industry, whereas with a characteristic of energy-using, the biased technical change will weaken the positive impact of technical change. (3) The technical change can reduce the carbon intensity of the non-ferrous metal industry by reducing energy consumption and optimising the energy structure. These findings suggest that effective promotion of technical change requires more targeted polices to reduce regional heterogeneity. The government should also encourage non-ferrous metal enterprises to reduce overcapacity, accelerate the process of high-end industry, strengthen the secondary recycling of materials and promote the use of clean energy.

‘Kaldor Facts’ and the decline of Wage Share: An agent based-stock flow consistent model of induced technical change along Classical and Keynesian lines

This paper introduces the classical idea about the so-called directed and induced technical change (ITC) within a Keynesian demand-side and evolutionary endogenous growth model in order to analyse the interplay between technical change, long-run economic growth and functional income distribution. The ITC process is analysed within an Agent-Based Stock-Flow Consistent (AB-SFC) model, wherein credit-constrained heterogeneous firms choose both the intensity and the direction of innovation towards a labour- or capital-saving choice of technique. In the long-run, the model reproduces the so-called ‘Kaldor stylised facts’ (i.e. a purely labour-saving technical change process), however during the transitional phase the model shows a labour-saving/capital-using innovation pattern, as the aggregate output-capital ratio decreases until it stabilises in the long-run, and the labour share persistently decline as observed during the last decades in many advanced (and developing) economies. Within the present model, we can ascribe these results mainly to the effect exerted by the interplay between directed and biased technical change, the process of wage formation and the dynamics of aggregate demand. In order to stress the effective role of the innovation bias on the model dynamics, the baseline scenario has been compared with a ‘counterfactual’ scenario wherein ‘neutral’ technical progress is at work. The main findings are also confirmed by computing a sensitivity investigation on the key parameters shaping innovation and wage formation process.

Between new and inherited technical behaviours: a case study from the Early Middle Palaeolithic of Southern France

The beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic in Western Europe is traditionally associated with the emergence of new, more complex and standardised debitage technologies, such as Levallois technology. These changes occurred in the archaeological record between MIS 9 and MIS 6. This paper aims to evaluate the processes of technical change at work in Southern France, tracking innovations and persistent behaviours and potential shifts, to describe the process of transition and compare the Southeast and Southwest of France. We revised several major sites from Ardèche and Dordogne through the technological analysis of seven lithic assemblages in areas rich in good-quality raw materials, mostly flint. Technological analysis shows common features in lithic strategies and industries that can all be attributed to the Early Middle Palaeolithic. The features are a diversity of debitage methods and spatiotemporal management of the chaînes opératoires (ramification and artefact mobility). At the same time, algorithmic methods (Système par Surface de Débitage Alternées: SSDA) continue to be used, in the same way as large cutting tools (LCTs), although they are rare (pebble tools, bifaces and ‘mixed matrices’). These LCTs are persistent technologies from the Acheulean technocomplex. Gradual mosaic-type changes in the lithic record are particularly well demonstrated through the sequence of Orgnac 3, where a local onset of Levallois technologies appears to occur. Both in the Southeast and Southwest of France, the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition records gradual and asynchronous behavioural changes as early as MIS 9 to MIS 6. These shifts are not only due to increased hominin cognition. Abilities of human groups to adapt to diversified environments and regional cultural processes may also have played a key role. Several lithic technocomplexes coexisted between MIS 9 and 6 in these two areas and although differences in local strategies are obvious, similar trajectories towards MP behaviour can be detected.

Wage and employment by skill levels in technological evolution of South and East Europe

Occupations and sectors are the two fundamental dimensions of structural change. From the evolution of the high/low-skill employment levels and wage premium, we can study which sectors have been undertaking a process of technical change. We use Eu-Silc database to investigate the technological patterns followed before and after the 2008 crisis by four “Southern Europe” countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal) and three “Eastern Europe” countries (Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria) in comparison with the UK. Our empirical analysis shows that these two groups of countries follow heterogeneous patterns. Eastern Countries are not suffering from de-industrialization and are more oriented toward SBTC, as they are likely to perform better than Southern Countries. In particular, Poland stands out among the Eastern countries and Portugal among the Southern Countries, because they are closest to the UK in terms of technology ratio (level and dynamics after the crisis) and in terms of SBTC tendency.

Examining systematic technological learning of Syrian textile industry

PurposeBecause of importance of technological learning for less developed countries, the notion has received increasing attention of scholars. The purpose of this paper is to investigate technological learning systematically by assessing the effect of technology transfer actors on technological learning in less developed countries context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents assessment model by adopting technological learning concept based on technology absorption and incremental innovation at firm level and identifying key roles of technology transfer actors (State – Scientific and technological infrastructure – Industry) that affect technological learning. The paper follows survey as research methodology. Thus, a questionnaire was addressed to 33 Syrian textile factories to examine the assessment model. Simple linear, multiple linear and ordinal regression analyses are preformed to examine relationships of model components.FindingsThe regression models show notable ability of technology transfer actors to explain technological behavior of firms to accumulate operative capability and consequently to generate passive incremental innovation. The findings indicate passive technical change system of Syrian textile industry. Therefore, goal-oriented evaluation of actual technology policy is preliminary step for achieving improvements, as well as activating scientific and technological infrastructure role by enabling strong relationships with industry and supporting interactions of domestic firms of textile industry and with foreign players.Originality/valueThe paper enriches technological learning literature by proposing systematic approach that sets the nature of technical change process of less developed countries in core of analysis. Moreover, it provides a guide for technological learning practices at firm level and for policymakers based on assessing actual status of Syrian textile industry.

Farmers’ use of fundamental knowledge to re-design their cropping systems: situated contextualisation processes

When they re-design their cropping systems to move towards agroecology, farmers implement practices that involve biological processes. Such practices have been qualified as knowledge-intensive, as they involve the renewal of agronomic principles and numerous interactions between the systems’ components and their regulation. Several studies recognize the value of discussing knowledge on systems’ functioning and component properties with farmers, in relation to technical change processes. This paper investigates some processes of coordination of fundamental and generic knowledge on biological processes, on the situated knowledge that farmers may use when introducing technical changes in their own cropping system, and on the integrated approach to agroecological processes. We perform an inductive inquiry, in the framework of an iterative and instrumental analysis of case studies. We chose five cases of different step-by-step cropping system re-design situations. Through our crosscutting analysis, we highlight the fundamental knowledge on biological objects that the farmers mobilized, and we describe some aspects of the processes involved in its contextualization. In particular, we describe four patterns of connection between fundamental knowledge and farmers’ actions, and distinguish three main reformulations of fundamental knowledge that participate in contextualizing it. These involve reinterpretation of individual experiences and identification of the effects of action on the situated biological processes. We conclude on research orientations for considering expert knowledge not as a specific content to integrate, but as a situated way of knowing that should be acknowledged in its processes.

Growth Theory and Growth Accounting: Reformulating Our Understanding of Growth

This paper seeks to address shortcomings in the growth literature – neoclassical growth theory and growth accounting. Specifically, the paper reformulates our understanding of the process of technical change, so that we view Hicks- and Harrod-neutral technical change as consistent, inseparable phenomena within a unified growth process. With this integrated Hicks-Harrod paradigm, the paper then: (i) reinterprets the steady state condition thereby clarifying the circumstances under which s, n, and δ are admissible, whereas g should be excluded, (ii) introduces the technology multiplier, which helps to restore technical change to its place as a public good, while creating new country-specific avenues for endogenous growth, (iii) opens a window for examining historic turning points in the growth experience, and (iv) introduces the Harrod-based accounting function thereby enabling the reconciliation and integration of growth theory and growth accounting. These reformulations substantially expand the boundaries of the neoclassical growth model to explore new avenues of growth that may be sufficient to explain the observed disparities in living standards across nations.

“If those tears could talk, what would they say?” Multi-method analysis of a corrective experience in brief dynamic therapy

We analyzed master theorist/therapist Hanna Levenson’s six-session work with “Ann” in American Psychological Association’s Theories of Psychotherapy video series to determine if and how this client had a corrective experience in Brief Dynamic Therapy. First, we identified indicators of a corrective experience in the therapist’s and client’s own words. Complementing this analysis, we used observational coding to identify, moment by moment, narrative-emotion markers of shifts in Ann’s “same old story”; the frequency, type, and depth of immediacy; and the client’s and therapist’s behavioral contributions to the working alliance. Additionally, we qualitatively analyzed Levenson’s session-by-session accounts of the therapy from two sources. Convergent evidence from these multi-method analyses suggested how the intertwined relational and technical change processes seemed to bring about this client’s corrective experience. Through consistent attention to the alliance and increasingly deep immediacy, Levenson created a safe space for Ann to “bring down the wall”—by allowing herself to cry and be deeply understood and cared for in a way that she had never before experienced. Concurrently, Ann began seeing herself quite differently, signified by self-identity narrative change. Then, following Session 4, she took Levenson’s suggestion to risk behaving more authentically with a friend and with her romantic partner.

Growth Theory and Growth Accounting: Reformulating Our Understanding of Growth

This paper seeks to address shortcomings in the growth literature – neoclassical growth theory and growth accounting. Specifically, the paper reformulates our understanding of the process of technical change, so that we view Hicks- and Harrod-neutral technical change as consistent, inseparable phenomena within a unified growth process. With this integrated Hicks-Harrod paradigm, the paper then: (i) reinterprets the steady state condition thereby clarifying the circumstances under which s, n, and δ are admissible, whereas g should be excluded, (ii) introduces the technology multiplier, which helps to restore technical change to its place as a public good, while creating new country-specific avenues for endogenous growth, (iii) opens a window for examining historic turning points in the growth experience, and (iv) introduces the Harrod-based accounting function thereby enabling the reconciliation and integration of growth theory and growth accounting. These reformulations substantially expand the boundaries of the neoclassical growth model to explore new avenues of growth that may be sufficient to explain the observed disparities in living standards across nations.

Transitions to agroecological farming systems in the Mississippi River Basin: toward an integrated socioecological analysis

Industrial agriculture has extensive environmental and social costs, and efforts to create alternative farming systems are widespread if not yet widely successful. This study explored how a set of grain farmers and rotational graziers in Iowa transitioned to agroecological management practices. Our focus on the resources and strategies that farmers mobilized to develop opportunities for, and overcome barriers to, transitioning to alternative practices allows us to go beyond the existing literature focused on why farmers transition. We attend to both the ecological and socioeconomic context of innovation by comparing processes of technical change in two contrasting regions of Iowa. Farmers cultivated farm-level biodiversity and enterprise diversity, developed new cognitive and psychological competencies, and overcame barriers to innovation by developing external network linkages with peers, knowledge organizations, and federal policies. Our research provides insights into how biophysical, cognitive, structural and market considerations can be integrated into research efforts that aim to make sense of innovation toward sustainable agriculture.

When Innovation Becomes Inefficient: Reexamining Britain's Radio Industry

I examine the factors underpinning the British radio-equipment sector's particularly poor interwar productivity performance relative to the United States. Differences in socio-legal environments were crucial in allowing key players in the British industry to derive higher monopoly rents than their American counterparts. Higher British rents in turn, had the unintended outcome of stimulating innovation around restrictive patents, initiating a path-dependent process of technical change in favor of expensive multifunctional valves. These valves both raised direct production costs and prevented British firms from following the American path of broadening the radio market beyond the household's prime receiver.

Explaining Productivity Change in Underdeveloped Agriculture. Can the Theory of Induced Innovation Do It?

The microeconomic version of the theory of induced innovation extends the logic of factor substitution and static efficiency to the process of technical change and attempts to show that the ‘bias’ of technical progress in agriculture will work in the same direction as factor substitution at given technology, with factor proportions changing in inverse relation to relative factor prices. This article argues that even within the model itself, the scope for rising labour productivity associated with land-saving technical progress appears to be rather limited. Econometric studies of technical change in Japanese agriculture support this view. Moreover, the theory of induced innovation tends to confuse static efficiency with ‘dynamic efficiency’ implying investments, technological progress and changing factor proportions over time. The theory of induced innovation does not identify any driving force of technical change. Therefore, it cannot explain adequately why technical progress takes place or does not take place. The article concludes by arguing that in an agriculture of poor smallholders, price control and price stabilisation rather than market-driven changes of relative factor prices are important in stimulating technical progress.

Innovation Capability: From Technology Development to Transaction Capability

The firm’s role, besides producing goods and services, is to promote technological change and innovation. While academic research on technological capabilities has led to a better understanding of the process of technical change itself, there is no consensus on the ultimate definition of innovation capability. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for innovation capability. This is formed by four key capabilities (technology development, operations, management and transaction) that enable firms to reach Schumpeterian profits. Given that the study is characterized as a theoretical paper, methodologically is supported on an extensive literature review. Our main findings can be summed up in three aspects: (1) every firm has all four capabilities; none of them are null; (2) to be innovative, at least one of the firm’s capabilities must be predominant; (3) any firm, when established, is primarily technological or transactional, in a second stage, operational or managerial.

Refining and regaining skills in fixation/diversification stage performers: the Five-A Model

Technical change is one of many factors underpinning success in elite, fixation/diversification stage performers. Surprisingly, however, there is a dearth of research pertaining to this process or the most efficacious methods used to bring about such a change. In this paper we highlight the emergent processes, yet also the lack in mechanistic comprehension surrounding technical change, addressing issues within the motor control, sport psychology, coaching and choking literature. More importantly, we seek an understanding of how these changes can be made more secure to competitive pressure, and how this can be embedded within the process of technical change. Following this review, we propose the Five-A Model based on successful coaching techniques, psychosocial concomitants, the avoidance of choking and principles of effective behaviour change. Specific mechanisms for each stage are discussed, with a focus on the use of holistic rhythm-based cues as a possible way of internalising changes. Finally, we suggest the need for further research to examine these five stages, to aid a more comprehensive construction of the content and delivery of such a programme within the applied setting.

Brain Versus Brawn: The Realization of Women's Comparative Advantage

In the last decades the US economy experienced a rise in female labor force participation, a reversal of the gender education gap and a closing of the gender wage gap. Importantly, these changes occurred at a substantially different pace over time. During the same period, workers in the US faced a considerable shift in labor demand from more physical to more intellectual skill requirements. I rationalize these observations in the context of a general equilibrium model displaying two key assumptions: (1) the demand for brain increases both within and across education groups; and (2) women have less brawn than men. Given the observed US technical change process, the model replicates (1) over half of the narrowing gender wage gap, (2) most of the narrowing employment gap, and (3) all of the reversing education gap. Crucially, the model can also account for the time-varying-path of the narrowing gender divide with an initial stagnation and a later acceleration in female wages and education rates.

The mythology of learning-by-doing in World War II airframe and ship production

Between the 1940s and 1960s, studies of aircraft and ship production during World War II (WWII) gave rise to the concept of 'learning-by-doing'. This proved to be an influential and long lived idea. It has been embedded in micro-level analyses concerned with firm level management and in macro analyses underpinning numerous fields of policy – ranging trade and industry policy in developing countries to policy options for addressing global climate change. While its empirical basis has been questioned, the basic features of the idea continue to be widely used, and the claimed validity continues to be sustained by reference to the WWII studies. This paper reviews those studies. It demonstrates that they provide little empirical support for these policy applications. A long overdue effort should be made to develop a much more empirically grounded understanding of the various innovation and technical change processes that have been obscurely bundled together in the learning-by-doing idea.

Innovation and diffusion of environmental technology: Industrial NOx abatement in Sweden under refunded emission payments

We study the actual process of technical change in the case of NOx abatement from large stationary sources that have been regulated by very forceful policies in Sweden. Considerable progress has been made in lowering aggregate emissions and this paper seeks to disaggregate average industry improvements to study how much of it is due to innovations by first movers, and how much is achieved by adoption and diffusion of technology. We find both factors very important. Innovation has been rapid: the best firms have cut emissions on the order of 70%. In spite of this, reductions have actually been even more rapid for the majority of firms so that the median firms have caught up with best practice. We analyze various characteristics of the technological change observed.

Feminist theories of technology

Feminist theories of technology have come a long way over the last quarter of a century. The expanding engagement at the intersection of feminist scholarship and science and technology studies (STS) has enriched both fields immeasurably, and I will largely focus my reflections on the literature associated with these sites. I begin by highlighting the continuities as well as the differences between contemporary and earlier feminist debates on technology. Current approaches focus on the mutual shaping of gender and technology, in which technology is conceptualised as both a source and consequence of gender relations. In avoiding both technological determinism and gender essentialism, such theories emphasise that the gender-technology relationship is fluid and situated. These deliberations highlight how processes of technical change can influence gender power relations. A feminist politics of technology is thus key to achieving gender equality.

Growing through chaotic intervals

We consider a growth model proposed by Matsuyama [K. Matsuyama, Growing through cycles, Econometrica 67 (2) (1999) 335–347] in which two sources of economic growth are present: the mechanism of capital accumulation (Solow regime) and the process of technical change and innovations (Romer regime). We will shown that no stable cycle can exist, except for a fixed point and a cycle of period two. The Necessary and Sufficient conditions for regular or chaotic regimes are formulated. The bifurcation structure of the two-dimensional parameter plane is completely explained. It is shown how the border-collision bifurcation leads from the stable fixed point to pure chaotic regime (which consists either in 4-cyclical chaotic intervals, 2-cyclical chaotic intervals or in one chaotic interval).