Abstract
The canonical economic literature on path dependence provides only a limited explanation of why and how new technological pathways are created initially. The motivation of this paper is to address this gap in the literature and argue that evolutionary economics theories of path dependence need to be linked with sociological explanations of how new technological pathways are created in the first instance by knowledgeable inventors and innovators. These arguments are developed by the authors in a hybrid socio-economic theory of new path creation. In this paper these theoretical arguments are illustrated empirically by a comparative analysis of the introduction and diffusion of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany. The empirical analysis focuses on the key research question of why the introduction of these new technologies started earlier and has diffused sooner in Germany than in Britain.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Klaus and Tom Brökel, Johannes Kammer, Pascal Sommer and Andreas Reuter for their support in getting access to inventors and innovators in the German wind energy industry. We are also grateful for the helpful suggestions of three rigorous anonymous referees. The usual caveats apply.
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Appendix 1: Respondents: brief biographical details
Appendix 1: Respondents: brief biographical details
Code no. | Date of interview | Location | Biography |
|---|---|---|---|
Britain | |||
B1 | March 7 2012 | Reading | Inventor: Retired key figure in UK research & diffusion from early 1960s. Originally qualified in aeronautical engineering. University researcher. Initially inspired by possible use of wind power in developing countries. Head of Development at wind power company. Founder of the British Wind Energy Association. |
B2 | March 8 2012 | Birmingham | Inventor: Originally qualified in chemical engineering. 1980s worked on VAWTs. Joined PowerGen. Started research company working on small scale VAWTs & wind turbulence. Developed Controlled Airflow Technology Turbine. |
B3 | March 8 2012 | Leamington Spa | Innovator: Originally qualified in engineering, later specialising in compact epicyclical marine gearboxes. Started wind turbine development in 1986. Built first 3MW wind turbine. Started with gearboxes for tidal turbine. Demonstrators built in Czech Republic. Manufacture and sales in China. |
B4 | March 28 2012 | London | Innovator: Runs collaborative R&D programme aimed at reducing the costs of offshore wind. Focus on new foundation designs, electrical systems, access systems & wake effects. |
B5 | March 30 2012 | London | Inventor: Originally qualified in engineering, aerodynamics, & Environmental Design & Architecture. 2000s worked in consultancy on building physics, renewables, services, solar product development, installation & testing of small VAWTs. Invented VAWT optimising aerodynamics in turbulence. Started company in 2006. |
B6 | March 30 2012 | Swansea | Innovator: Originally qualified in marine electronics. Worked for Japanese & French electronics companies. Established Welsh energy research centre. Developing large scale VAWT capable of working in low wind speeds, pumping in deserts & tidal streams. |
Germany | |||
G1 | Feb 1 2012 | Saarbrűcken | Inventor: Originally qualified as a mechanical engineer in the car industry. Developed very early ideas for a gearless wind turbine that is now produced by firms like Vensys, Goldwind and others. Prototype of a “tüftler” who, however, always remained in the German university/technical college system in the early 1980s. Now emeritus, but still researching. An important pioneer of the German wind energy scene. |
G2 | Feb 2 2012 | Landau | Inventor & innovator: Originally qualified as an aerospace engineer in Southern Germany. Privately interested in gliding. Founded Aeroconstruct, a pioneer firm producing rotor blades. Former Vice-president of Nordex (responsible for technology), Parted from large business wind energy industry in anger. Self-disclosure: “I am the last one from a dying species” that knows all about rotor blades. Now a private consultant. |
G3 | Feb 2 2012 | Rimbach | Inventor & innovator: Son of a farmer, got his allowance to study through night school, studied mechanical engineering. Originally a very practical-oriented standard engineer searching for solutions of very concrete applied problems. Politicized after Chernobyl 1986 when he became a fan of renewable energies. A real “tüftler” with early attempts to develop an electrical car as well as a solar heater. Got access to the influential group of mechanical engineers at the TU Berlin (Energy and Environmental Techniques) when studying there. Started his company in 1996. |
G4 | Feb 9 2012 | Rostock | Innovator: Originally qualified as mechanical engineer. Studied in Rostock (Eastern Germany) just after the GDR collapsed. Got in contact with wind energy during his internship at the Husum Shipyard, an important source of wind energy ideas in the early years of that industry in Germany. Involved in the first German wind farm that was financed by an innovative model: Wind Funds, a financial model originally applied to ship financing. Started his own firm that develops wind farms including all related services. |
G5 | Feb 9 2012 | Rostock | Inventor: Qualified as mechanical engineer (in the former GDR). Studied in Rostock. CTO of Nordex, a large German wind energy firm, for many years. Involved in wind energy since 1990. About 50 wind energy patents listed in DPMA (Depatisnet) |
G6 | Feb 10 2012 | Rendsburg | Innovator: Studied mechanical engineering at the TU Berlin. Related to the research group of Prof. Gasch at the UTU Berlin, an important nucleus of wind energy engineers in Germany. Former R&D Director of one of the biggest offshore wind firms in Germany. Founder of several wind energy start-ups. About 30 wind energy patents listed in DPMA (Depatisnet) |
G7 | Feb 10 2012 | Hamburg | Innovator: Originally qualified as physical geographer with a diploma thesis on German wind energy industry written in the early 1980s. Created a framework to sell wind turbines to small farmers. In his – rather popular – diploma thesis he proposed to cover 10 % of Schleswig-Holstein’s electrical power by wind energy. Professional experience in a firm that developed environment techniques and sold wind turbines. That firm was sold 2005, now Siemens wind power. Private motivation: since mid 1990s he - together with friends & family - developed and sold wind turbines parallel to his professional work. Now working for a large German wind energy firm (Vice president offshore development). |
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Simmie, J., Sternberg, R. & Carpenter, J. New technological path creation: evidence from the British and German wind energy industries. J Evol Econ 24, 875–904 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-014-0354-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-014-0354-8
Keywords
- Wind energy industry
- Renewable energy
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- path creation
- Evolutionary economic geography