Abstract
The analysis of the diffusion of innovation was a central theme in Ed Mansfield's work over many years. In this essay I summarise his analysis of logistic diffusion processes and relate his work to earlier studies of industrial retardation and subsequent work on evolutionary economic processes. A distinction has to be drawn between the logistic law and the logistic curve, the latter being only one instantiation of the more general law which is itself a signature of evolutionary selection processes within a population of rival innovations.
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Metcalfe, J. Ed Mansfield and the Diffusion of Innovation: An Evolutionary Connection. The Journal of Technology Transfer 30, 171–181 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-004-4520-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-004-4520-2