Course Information

Instructor: Dr. Timur Ergen (te@mpifg.de)
Institution: University of Cologne
Semester: Fall 2018
Module: Märkte, Institutionen und Organisationen
Location: MPIfG, Paulstraße 3

Schedule:

  • Friday, October 5, 2018, 11:00–12:30 (Introduction)
  • Friday, October 12, 2018, 01:30–5:30 (Part 1)
  • Saturday, October 13, 2018, 09:00–5:00 (Parts 2 & 3)
  • Sunday, October 14, 2018, 09:00–4:00 (Part 4 and final discussion)

Technological innovations are core drivers of economic and social dynamics in modern societies. The seminar introduces social science perspectives on the origins, forms, and effects of innovations. Key questions include where inventions and innovations come from, how regional divides in innovative activity emerge, how states influence and direct innovation, and how technological change affects societies.

The seminar covers literatures from various theoretical and methodological perspectives, including history and historical sociology, economics, quantitative political science, comparative political sociology, and social network analysis. Besides delving into empirical material, we work through exemplary debates on the forms and functions of innovation since World War II, especially concerning industrial policy and international competitiveness.

Course Materials
  • Complete Syllabus — Full course syllabus with detailed information and requirements

Assessment

All participants will be expected to read all texts, take an active part in class discussions, give a brief presentation and prepare a term paper of 15–20 pages due February 15, 2019. Term papers require original research on literature, data, or material and must be written in English. Both electronic version (te@mpifg.de) and printed version must be submitted according to ISS regulations.

Part 1: Where do innovations come from?

Required Readings:

  • Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson and Thierry Verdier, 2017: Asymmetric Growth and Institutions in an Interdependent World. Journal of Political Economy 125, 5: 1245–1305.
  • Joseph Schumpeter, 1912: Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Duncker & Humblot, pp. 103–198. (English translation provided, German original preferred.)
  • Richard K. Lester and Michael J. Piore, 2004: Innovation. The Missing Dimension. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1–12, 35–73.
  • Walter W. Powell and Kurt Sandholtz, 2012. Chance, Nécessité, et Naïveté: Ingredients to Create a New Organizational Form. In: The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, edited by John F. Padgett and Walter W. Powell, 379–433. Princeton University Press.
  • Harro van Lente and Arie Rip, 1998: The Rise of Membrane Technology: From Rhetorics to Social Reality. Social Studies of Science 28, 221–254.
  • Fred Block, 2011. Innovation and the Invisible Hand of Government, in: State of Innovation. The U.S. Government’s Role in Technology Development, edited by Fred Block and Matthew Keller, 1–26. Paradigm.

Part 2: Regional structures of innovation

Required Readings:

  • Jeffrey Sachs, 2003. The Global Innovation Divide, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 3, edited by Adam B. Jaffe, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, 131–141. NBER.
  • AnnaLee Saxenian, 1996. Inside-Out: Regional Networks and Industrial Adaptation in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cityscape, 2, 2: 41–60.
  • Gernot Grabher, 1993: The Weakness of Strong Ties. The Lock-in of Regional Development in the Ruhr Area. In: The Embedded Firm. On the Socioeconomics of Industrial Networks, edited by Gernot Grabher. Routledge, 255–277.
  • Jonas Nahm, 2017. Renewable Futures and Industrial Legacies: Wind and Solar Sectors in China, Germany, and the United States. Business and Politics 19, 1: 68–106.
  • J. Nicholas Ziegler, 1993. Knowledge-bearing Elites and Industrial Competitiveness in France and Germany. Sloan School of Management Working Paper, 3637-93, Cambridge, MA: MIT.

Part 3: Innovation and the state

Required Readings:

  • Peter Evans, 1995. Embedded Autonomy. States and Industrial Transformation. Princeton University Press, chapters 1, 2 & 3.
  • Linda Weiss, 2014. America Inc? Innovation and Enterprise in the National Security State. Cornell University Press, chapters 1 & 9.
  • Gregory Hooks, 1990. The Rise of the Pentagon and U.S. State Building: The Defense Program as Industrial Policy. American Journal of Sociology 96, 2, 358–404.
  • Daniel Lee Kleinman and Steven P. Vallas, 2001. Science, Capitalism, and the Rise of the “Knowledge Worker”: The Changing Structure of Knowledge Production in the United States. Theory and Society, 30, 4, 451–492.

Part 4: Societal reactions to innovation

Required Readings:

  • Joel Mokyr, 1992. Technological Inertia in Economic History. Journal of Economic History, 52, 2, 325–338.
  • Helen Milner, 2006. The Digital Divide. The Role of Political Institutions in Technology Diffusion. Comparative Political Studies 39, 2, 176–199.
  • Dieter Rucht, 1990. Campaigns, Skirmishes and Battles: Anti-nuclear Movements in the USA, France and West Germany. Organization and Environment 4, 3, 193–222.
  • Sheila Jasanoff and Sang-Hyun Kim, 2009. Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea. Minerva 47, 2, 119–146.
  • Edward P. Thompson, 1967. Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism. Past & Present 38, 56–97.