Diffusion as time-dependent result of technological evolution, competition, and policies: the case of cleaner iron and steel technologies

The typical focus of diffusion analysis on one new technology and patterns of its evolution in time tends to neglect important features of technological evolution such as the dynamics of technological competition and the importance of the institutional framework. This is particularly so for cleaner technologies which have to compete with well established technologies and of which diffusion dynamics are related to environmental policy, too. In this paper a new conceptual approach to innovation diffusion building on insights of evolutionary economic theory is proposed and applied to a case study on the diffusion of a cleaner ironmaking technology.