In this forum, we present three essays that collectively seek to document and explain the rise of China's digital economy. The first essay written by Hong Jiang – who is based in China – and myself – who is based in the West – focuses on documenting the rise of China's digital economy by comparing… More »
My Notes — Economics
How Philco-Ford imagined in 1967 what daily life would be like in 1999
According to Wikipedia, Ford owned Philco for 10 years starting in 1961. Hence the name Philco-Ford. The brand is now owned by Philipps.
What Does the Success of Tesla Mean for the Future Dynamics in the Global Automobile Sector?
After reading Jacobides, MacDuffie, and Tae (2016), the success of Tesla in launching a new automobile company in a crowded sector puzzled us. Jacobides, MacDuffie, and Tae (2016) had convinced us that developing the capabilities to become the manufacturer of a complete, safe automobile system would be quite difficult. Researching the development history of Tesla,… More »
Using Simulation Experiments to Test Historical Explanations
I wanted to test with a computer simulation the explanations I offered in my book Knowledge and Competitive Advantage: The Coevolution of Firms, Technology and National Institutions for why German firms overtook their French and British competitors in the Synthetic Dye Industry from 1857-1913. So I partnered with Thomas Brenner who has created a simulation… More »
CEO of Large German Publisher speaks out: Why we fear Google
This if one of the most interesting open letter I have ever read by a CEO. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, closes his open letter: Dear Eric Schmidt, you do not need my advice, and of course I am writing here from the perspective of those concerned. As a profiteer from Google’s traffic. As… More »
Scaffolding in Economics, Management, and the Design of Technologies
This chapter reviews the ideas that have been developed to describe the emergence and change of structures in three fields: Economics, Management, and Design of Technologies. The chapter focuses on one empirical setting, the economy, and more specifically how firms, industries, and technologies change over time. Today’s industrialized economies are very different from the economies… More »
Reflections on the 30th Anniversary of Nelson & Winter (1982)
The 9th Atlanta Competitive Advantage Conference had a panel to celebrate the publication of Nelson and Winter's 1982 landmark book. The panel included Sid Winter, Connie Helfat, L.G.Thomas III, and myself. As part of my reflections, I offered a citation analysis to demonstrate the influence of the book with data. I went on to explain… More »
