Innovation and standardization might seem polar opposites, but over many years various scholars have noted close connections between the two. This Handbook assembles a broad range of thinking on this subject, with contributions from several disciplinary perspectives by over 30 leading scholars and experienced practitioners. Collectively, they summarize and synthesize the existing body of knowledge - theory and evidence - pertaining to standards and innovation, and provide insights into how this knowledge can be useful to scholars, industrial strategists, policy-makers and standards practitioners. Drawn from leading experts in several social science disciplines, this Handbook provides new insights into innovation processes and systems using theoretical, empirical and applied approaches. By situating standards and standardization as specific factors which play distinctive roles in innovation-driven growth, it establishes that standardization (doing things the same way) is an essential component of innovation (doing things differently). The book also provides novel and practical insight into how standards are incorporated into innovation strategies and policies. Comprehensive and original, this collection will be a vital resource for all students and academics of social, natural and engineering science communities. Policy-makers and practitioners will also find a wealth of experience and knowledge within its pages.

This book addresses the new field of standards dynamics. It focuses in particular on the tension between standards and change. Standards are points of reference and should therefore be inherently stable (at least to a certain degree). However, technologies change at an increasing pace, particularly in the field of information technology (IT). This requires the development of more standards and more updates, and leads to increased competition between standards. In many situations problems arise, such as how to retain compatibility if standards keep on changing and whether to adopt the new version. If standards are related, how does changing one standard affect the others? The contributing authors gathered here analyse the causes and scale of change in order to demonstrate how to prevent, reduce and cope with its negative impact. Addressing a number of highly up-to-date issues including the sustainability of documents and data, this book will be of great interest to those concerned with innovation, management of technology and the emerging field of standardization studies. In addition, standard-setting organizations and policymakers should be aware of the ambivalence of standards dynamics.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the important topic of standards, which remains a vastly under-researched field of empirical inquiry. It presents a variety of interesting empirical analyses which reveal the driving forces and the economic impacts of standardization both in the manufacturing and the service sector. The author begins by providing a detailed outline of the various types of standards and their possible economic impacts. Before providing empirical validation of the theoretical arguments, he discusses the influence of standards within the regulatory system. Among the other actors in the standardization process, the author focuses in particular on the role of the firm, which acts as the main impetus for the development and implementation of new standards. He also examines the fundamental link between technical change and standardization, to assess whether this relationship is a virtuous or vicious cycle. In this context, the impact of intellectual property rights within standardization is also highlighted. Another significant aspect is the consequences of standards for trade and their role in fostering or inhibiting international trade flows. Finally, the author investigates the effect on macroeconomic growth where, especially in the new economy, formal standards are a crucial source of codified and publicly available knowledge. The analysis is based on extensive microeconomic, sectoral and macroeconomic data, which allows the author to compare the various economic impacts of standards and derive important policy conclusions. This book is a comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the economics of standards which will undoubtedly inspire further research in the field. It will be required reading for industrial economists, R&D managers and policymakers involved with innovation and trade policy.

There has been a continued debate in Europe over whether to change the patentability of software - or so-called computer-implemented inventions - and to follow the US model of allowing software patents. Albeit as European regulation has been stopped in July 2005, this heated debate stays with us for the time being. The European debate has shown a severe lack of empirical analysis on the possible impact of software patenting that goes beyond interest-driven rhetoric. This book seeks to address this shortcoming by taking a two-fold approach. Firstly, a survey of German software companies provides a representative overview of both general strategies to protect inventions and opinions regarding the future IPR regime in the context of innovation strategies - including the importance and use of Open Source software. Secondly, a series of case studies illustrate the varying impacts that patents and other protection strategies can have in specific contexts. foundation as for the economic impacts and policy implications of software patents upon which to base a discussion on how to shape the intellectual property regime for software. Thus, this volume will be of interest to industrial economists and students, as well as legal scientists and analysts and students of governance in innovation systems. It will also appeal to all policy stakeholders dealing with IPR issues and/or software developing industries.