This paper works out some of the basic properties of an economy with energy as a factor of production. The economy now consists of streams of energy conversions that direct energy to the production of goods and services. The focus on energy generates a variety of insights. It yields a new...

Past study of the diffusion of pervasive technologies, such as the electric motor, has failed to take into account the varied technological challenges in their application. In a careful examination of the adoption patterns of the electric motor in three industries, automobile manufacture,...

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Part 1: Approaching Media Transformation: Triggers and Effects Shaping the Future of Media -- Chapter 2. Business Models and Innovation Triggers in the Media Industry: How Digitalization Contributes to a Secure Future for Companies -- Chapter 3. The Influence of New...

Considers the changes taking place in the information and library sector ‐ changes which are due, in the main, to fast developing technologies and the resulting information explosion. Traditional skills and methods of working are coming under increasing pressure and are no longer sufficient....

This paper explores the implications of Unified Growth Theory for the origins of existing differences in income per capita across countries. The theory sheds light on three fundamental layers of comparative development. It identifies the factors that have governed the pace of the transition from...

We measure technological progress in oceanic shipping directly by using a large database of daily log entries from ships of the British and Dutch East India Companies and Navies to estimate daily sailing speed in different wind conditions from 1750 to 1850. Against the consensus among economic...

This paper analyzes the consequences of radical patent-regime change by exploiting a natural experiment: the forced adoption of the Prussian patent system in territories annexed after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Compared to other German states, Prussia granted patents more restrictively by...