| "(...) There exist two sequential or linear models of innovation in the literature. One is the “linear model of
innovation” as such. The model comes from management and economics, and their concern with
studying the origin of inventions. The other model, of which the linear model of innovation is one part
or step, is that of innovation as a process of invention followed by diffusion. This “model”, or rather the
theory on which it is based, comes from anthropology and was invented as a solution to a controversy on the
role of invention and diffusion in explaining culture change. The sequence ‘invention → diffusion’ has
remained influential in later studies of technological innovation from sociology to management and
economics. This paper documents the origin of the sequence and its subsequent use in the study of
technological innovation. (...)" |
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Project on the Intellectual History of Innovation