Niches in evolutionary theories of technical change: A critical survey of the literature

摘要: In this article, the use of niche concept for explaining radical technical change is explored. Contributions various strands literatures are elaborated and systematized in a taxonomy. Radical or technological discontinuity defined as establishment new sociotechnical regime. Sociotechnical regimes carry store rules how to produce, regulate specific technologies. They perform task genes define boundary between species. It proposed that generated by four different evolutionary mechanisms patterns: natural selection, punctuated equilibrium, market selection. each pattern, type implicated process. The difference niches results from differentiating two dimensions: (1) whether internal external prevailing regime; (2) design technology stable unstable within niche.