Regulation as the Mother of Innovation: The Case of So2 Control

Taylor, Margaret R.; Rubin, Edward L.; Hounshell, David A.

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Regulation as the Mother of Innovation: The Case of So2 Control

31 Pages Posted: 21 Mar 2005

See all articles by Margaret R. Taylor

Margaret R. Taylor

University of California, Berkeley - The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy

Edward L. Rubin

Vanderbilt University - Law School; Vanderbilt University - Department of Political Science

David A. Hounshell

Carnegie Mellon University - Department of History

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between government actions and innovation in an environmental control technology - sulfur dioxide (SO2) control technologies for power plants - through the use of complementary research methods. Its findings include the importance of regulation and the anticipation of regulation in stimulating invention; the greater role of regulation, as opposed to public R&D expenditures, in inducing invention; the importance of regulatory stringency in determining technical pathways and stimulating collaboration; and the importance of regulatory-driven technological diffusion in contributing to operating experience and post-adoption innovation in cost and performance. A number of policy implications are drawn from this work.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Taylor, Margaret R. and Rubin, Edward L. and Hounshell, David A., Regulation as the Mother of Innovation: The Case of So2 Control. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=684343