The value of industry studies : impact of Luigi Orsenigo's legacy on the field of innovation and industry evolution

New solutions in artificial intelligence and machine learning require researchers to study, in greater depth, the nature, and dynamics of emerging industries like biotechnology or pharmaceuticals. With his pioneering work, Luigi Orsenigo has demonstrated, in great detail, how new technologies create technological opportunities, change appropriability conditions, and cumulativeness in these emerging industries. Rooted in the evolutionary economics tradition, this approach is better suited in explaining the patterns of innovation, technological change, and the growth in very dynamic industries. In this context, our article reviews the evidence of Luigi Orsenigo’s contribution to the economics of innovation, to the tradition of history-friendly models, and to the discussion on the sectoral system of innovation. It concludes by pointing at some unresolved questions in these traditions and new fruitful alleys for future researchers.