TY  - JOUR
AU  - Young,Alwyn
TI  - Substitution and Complementarity in Endogenous Innovation
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4256
PY  - 1993
Y2  - January 1993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4256
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4256.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Alwyn Young
London School of EconomicsAB  - The influence of Schumpeter's notion of "creative destruction" may have led to an overemphasis on substitution between technologies in recent models of endogenous innovation. Historical examples of technological change suggest that new technologies may just as frequently complement older technologies, creating, rather than destroying, rents. Acknowledgement of the potential for both substitution and complementarity amongst inventions allows for a much richer characterization of the growth process, creating the possibility of threshold effects and multiple equilibria, and bringing to the forefront the important role played by the expectations of inventive entrepreneurs.
ER  -