This note expounds the abstract fundamentals of the appropriability problem, re-assessing insights from three classic contributions – those of Schumpeter, Arrow and Teece. Whereas the first two contributions were explicitly concerned with the implications of appropriability for society at...

As emphasized by Barney (1986), any explanation of superior profitability must account for why the resources supporting such profitability could have been acquired for a price below their rent generating capacity. Building upon the literature in economics on coordination failures and incomplete...

No abstract.

In this paper we present a history-friendly model of the changing vertical scope of computer firms during the evolution of the computer and semiconductor industries. The model is “history friendly”, in that it attempts at replicating some basic, stylized qualitative features of the evolution...

Firm growth and expansion is widely believed to be guided by the desire to leverage existing resources. But which resources? The answer depends largely on context.the peculiarities of industries, firms, technologies, production, customers, and a host of other dimensions. This fact makes pointing...

In this paper we present a history-friendly model of the changing vertical scope of computer firms during the evolution of the computer and semiconductor industries. The model is "history friendly", in that it attempts at replicating some basic, stylized qualitative features of the evolution of...

This working paper reports the main lines of discussion that developed during a four-day workshop held August 10-13, 1995, at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The workshop was devoted to exploring the difficulties and promise of current research on organizational routines and...

In this paper, we explore the effects of alternative policies, ranging from antitrust to public procurement, open standards, information diffusion and basic research support on the dynamics of two vertically related industries in changing and uncertain technological and market environments. The...