The dynamic capabilities framework analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change. The competitive advantage of firms is seen as resting on distinctive processes (ways of coordinating and combining), shaped by the firm's (specific) asset positions (such as the firm's portfolio of difftcult-to- trade knowledge assets and complementary assets), and the evolution path(s) it has aflopted or inherited. The importance of path dependencies is amplified where conditions of increasing retums exist. Whether and how a firm's competitive advantage is eroded depends on the stability of market demand, and the ease of replicability (expanding intemally) and imitatability (replication by competitors). If correct, the framework suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technological change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm. In short, identifying new opportunities and organizing effectively and efficiently to embrace them are generally more fundamental to private wealth creation than is strategizing, if by strategizing one means engaging in business conduct that keeps competitors off balance, raises rival's costs, and excludes new entrants. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Dynamic capabilities and strategic management

Advances in the science and observation of climate change are providing a clearer understanding of the inherent variability of Earth's climate system and its likely response to human and natural influences. The implications of climate change for the environment and society will depend not only on the response of the Earth system to changes in radiative forcings, but also on how humankind responds through changes in technology, economies, lifestyle and policy. Extensive uncertainties exist in future forcings of and responses to climate change, necessitating the use of scenarios of the future to explore the potential consequences of different response options. To date, such scenarios have not adequately examined crucial possibilities, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, and have relied on research processes that slowed the exchange of information among physical, biological and social scientists. Here we describe a new process for creating plausible scenarios to investigate some of the most challenging and important questions about climate change confronting the global community.

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The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and assessment

https://are.berkeley.edu/courses/ARE251/fall2007/Papers/atkinson70.pdf

On the Measurement of Inequality

This paper is a revised version of Staff Working Paper 444 It reviews various studies which have provided a description of and possible explanation to patterns of innovation adoption in the agricultural sector It therefore covers both empirical and theoretical studies The discussion highlights the diversity in observed patterns among various farmers' classes as well as differences in results from different studies in different socio-economic environments, and reviews the attempts to rationalize such findings Special attention is given to the methodologies which are commonly used in studies of innovation adoption, and suggestions for improvements of such work through the use of appropriate economometric methods are provided The diversity of experiences with different innovations in different geographical and socio-cultural environments suggest that studies of adoption patterns should provide detailed information on attributes of the institutional, social and cultural setting and their interactions with economic factors These may be an important element in explaining conflicting experiences

Adoption of agricultural innovation in developing countries : a survey (revised)

The use of a fairly standard vehicle width of a little under 2 meters originates from the design of prehistoric carts and sleds as evidenced by rutting in ancient roads which aided in steering Despite dramatic advances in vehicular and infrastructural technologies, the standard has changed little over the millennia The gauges of railroad track, for instance, are now standardized at 4 feet 8 and half inches (1435 mm) across Europe and North America, the same as the first steam railway, and a mere half-inch wider than the typical pre-steam tracks in the mining districts near Newcastle, consistent in size with the wheel gauge used in Roman Britain This standard gauge lasted since it was first used on the Stockton and Darlington railway in 1825, and were adopted by most subsequent lines (Puffert, 2002), despite some railways trying alternatives (eg the Great Western Railway was originally built at 5 feet 6 inches, or 1676 mm) Alternative gauges would have accommodated wider, taller, and faster trains more easily, but the standard gauge that was adopted first acquired advantages as other railways sought compatibility with the standard to obtain access to the uses of earlier lines, and helped lock-in that standard

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2486211.pdf

First‐mover advantages

This article takes a different tack and inquires whether institutions such as the patent system create opportunities for firms with monopoly power to maintain their monopoly power. The results apply to other situations such as brand identification, spatial location, and capacity expansion, which share the characteristic that early, or preemptive, actions may lower the returns to potential competitors.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1831552.pdf

Preemptive Patenting and the Persistence of Monopoly

Most of the British electricity supply industry has been privatized. Two dominant generators supply bulk electricity to an unregulated "pool." They submit a supply schedule of prices for generation and receive the market-clearing price, which varies with demand. Despite claims that this should be highly competitive, we show that the Nash equilibrium in supply schedules implies a high markup on marginal cost and substantial deadweight losses. Further simulations, to show the effect of entry by 1994, produce somewhat lower prices, at the cost of excessive entry; subdividing the generators into five firms would produce better results.

Competition in the British Electricity Spot Market

Network utilities, such as electricity, telephones, and gas, are public utilities that require a fixed network to deliver their services. Because consumers have no choice of network, they risk exploitation by network owners. Once invested, however, a network's capital is sunk, and the bargaining advantage shifts from investor to consumer. The investor, fearing expropriation, may be reluctant to invest. The tension between consumer and investor can be side-stepped by state ownership. Alternatively, private ownership and consumers' political power can be reconciled through regulation. Either way, network utilities operate under terms set by the state. David Newbery argues that price-setting rules comprise only part of the policy agenda. Network utilities pose special problems of ownership and regulation. He discusses the history of ownership and regulation, privatization, and theories of regulation. Examining three network utilities in detailtelecoms, electricity, and gashe contrasts the regulatory approaches of Britain and the United States. He also looks at liberalization in a variety of other countries. History shows that the mature forms of regulatory institutions are remarkably similar under both public and private ownership. This raises obvious questions such as: Will the forces that caused convergence to regulated vertical integration in the past reassert themselves? Can the benefits of competition be protected against the pressure to reintegrate? Will different utilities differ in their form and structure? A full understanding of the forces shaping regulatory institutions is necessary to answer these important questions.

Privatization, Restructuring, and Regulation of Network Utilities

The theory of commodity price stabilization

This book is an important contribution to the debate on the new international economic order. The theory of commodity price stabilization is a subject of continuing and active policy concern to the developed and less developed countries.

David M. Newbery

Papers

Preemptive Patenting and the Persistence of Monopoly

Competition in the British Electricity Spot Market

Privatization, Restructuring, and Regulation of Network Utilities

The theory of commodity price stabilization

The Theory of Commodity Price Stabilization: A Study in the Economics of Risk