TOP-DOWN OR BOTTOM-UP - THE MICRO-MACRO LINK SEEN FROM BELOW

The paper examines the appropriate method used to analyse the impact of new technology. By referring to results from new empirical micro-level studies it investigates whether an analysis should be based on micro-level evidence ("bottom-up" approach) or if it is more promising to estimate the effects by decomposing aggregate figures ("top-down" approach). It shows that neither of the two approaches alone can provide a satisfactory result; therefore both methods should be combined. There are strong indications that empirical analyses on the micro-level are of crucial importance for any kind of approach to technology assessment.