Geography Reference
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and patents; this is a latent public good which incorporates generic
technological knowledge, and which is tradable, though it may still be
difficult to transfer; (2) tacit knowledge; this is private, is locally specific
and non-codifiable, as it depends on common codes and organizational
routines which are non-tradable, and it may be imitated but never exactly
copied (Nelson and Winter 1982). As mentioned earlier, the skilful behav-
iour which is required for the generation and application of technology
normally becomes embodied in a set of routines which characterize the
individual firm, and change only gradually. In their treatment of skills
and tacit knowledge, Nelson and Winter acknowledge the observation
'We know more than we can tell' made by Polanyi with reference to that
kind of human knowledge that is difficult to articulate (Polanyi 1967, p. 4).
Collective skills are even harder to express to outsiders than individual
skills, posing serious problems for the teaching and learning processes.
It is important to note, however, that knowledge tacitness is a matter of
degree: the same knowledge can appear
more tacit
to some individuals or
organizations than to others, implying also an influence of contextual and
institutional circumstances in the potential communication of knowledge.
In this framework, different attributes can be put forward with respect
to the nature of technological change (Nelson and Winter 1982). The first
one is that technological innovation is a
cumulative
process, partly as a con-
sequence of the gradual learning and establishment of specifically refined
skills and routines upon which it depends. Routines only change slowly
through careful experimentation, learning by doing and learning by using.
Cumulativeness also results from the need for critical revision caused by
the emergence of imbalances, or when one advance gives rise to others in
the same field of activity. Second, innovation progresses
incrementally
, so
that firms tend to move gradually between related types of technological
activity. The solutions found by a problem-solving activity raise other dif-
ficulties, and an advance may require others in related fields for its effec-
tive implementation. Incremental changes also often follow from a shift in
technological opportunities or in the availability of inputs. Third, technol-
ogy is
differentiated
between firms and locations, given that it is specific to
the context in which it is created. Due to its tacit component, technology
has unique and characteristic features in each new learning environment.
Fourth, technological change is partially irreversible: once technology and
the accompanying skills and routines have moved on, previous or simpler
technologies are 'forgotten', and to reintroduce them would require a new
learning process and the modification of individual and collective skills,
organizational practices and institutions. Technological development is
frequently non-ergodic in the sense that more than one outcome may have
been possible, but beyond some threshold the path or trajectory becomes