The construction of the techno-economic: networks vs. paradigms

This paper discusses the literature on 'techno-economic networks' (TENs) and 'techno-economic paradigms' (TEPs). The object of study in both literatures is some form of combination of the 'technical' and the 'socio-economic'; the phrase 'techno-economic' thus points to the need to see that the widest variety of 'actors' may be of significance for particular innovations. The literature on TENs has focused mainly on describing the emergence and stabilisation of specific innovations; the literature on TEPs has focused more on the issues and problems arising from the diffusion of highly 'pervasive' generic technologies. The two perspectives thus constitute different ends of a spectrum regarding the formulation of research and policy issues. The central concern of this paper is to illustrate that, by maintaining a focus on innovation and by shifting theoretical registers between the TEN and TEP perspectives, a number of issues emerge around what we call the 'meso-level techno-economic': at the level of the nation, of national governments, of specific firms and organisations of particular scientific and technological disciplines, or of particular market arrangements and patterns of consumption. The paper explores some of the applications of the approaches to technological development in relation to the environment and constructive technology assessment (CTA); it concludes by presenting a possible framework for analysis of the meso-level. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.