The co-evolution of societal issues, technologies and industry regimes: three case studies of the American automobile industry

This thesis contributes to closing a gap in the field of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy research: despite many theoretical advances in the field, we still do not know why some urgent societal issues (or ‘challenges’) remain unaddressed, notwithstanding the technological advances that could potentially address them. In particular, radical technological innovations – innovations that depart from the established technological trajectory – would offer greatest potential to address societal challenges. While the source of radical innovations is often new entrepreneurial firms, established firms (‘incumbents’) are likely to play an important role in developing them because of the vast resources and complementary assets they possess. Incumbents however, face few immediate incentives to develop radical innovations in response to societal challenges. The analytical puzzle of this thesis is thus to explain how, when, and why industries change (or not) their strategies (in particular, their technological strategy) in order to address a societal problem. This puzzle is disentangled into interrelated research questions: A) How do societal issue­‐related pressures (on the incumbent industry) from different domains (namely, civil society, science, political arena, economy) evolve? B) How does the incumbent industry respond to changing pressures around societal issues, in terms of technological, political, cultural and economic strategies? C) In particular, when and why do industry actors decide to develop substantive technological responses? To answer these questions, the thesis develops a new analytical perspective that combines insights from (a) issue life­‐cycle and issue attention cycle theories (from the Business & Society field) with (b) the so­‐called ‘Triple Embeddedness Framework’ and (c) concepts from business strategies, innovation management, corporate political strategies, and technology policy. This novel perspective represents an ideal­‐typical model of issue evolution (‘issue life ­‐cycle’). The model, which I call the Dialectic Issue Life­‐Cycle (DILC) model, is applied to three case studies of the American automobile industry’s responses to various societal problems (local air pollution, auto and highway safety, and climate change). Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods in an original way, the case studies aim not only to investigate the validity of the framework, which also provides conceptual answers to the research questions, but also to further refine it and nuance the conceptual answers. By explaining how incumbent industry actors respond to societal challenges, this thesis ultimately contributes to the practical policy debate of how incumbents can be stimulated to develop radical innovations that help address societal challenges

Multi-dimensional struggles in the greening of industry: a dialectic issue lifecycle model and case study

This paper aims to make two conceptual contributions to the greening of industry literature. Firstly, we propose that the greening process can be conceptualized as an issue lifecycle dynamics with multi-dimensional struggles between ‘greening’ pressures and industry response strategies. To capture the endogenous dynamics, we develop a Dialectic Issue LifeCycle model with five phases, which conceptualize how these struggles play out over time. Secondly, we propose that issue lifecycle dynamics are also influenced by (external) alignments with contextual field-level developments. This proposition accommodates the notion that industries not only face ‘green’ issues but also other relevant pressures. We apply the model to a historical case study: air pollution problems and responses from American automakers (1943–1985). The case study presents a good match with the first three phases of the model, but shows deviations in the fourth and fifth phase, which are due to: a) decreasing pressure from public opinion; b) limited spillovers from air pollution to consumer demand; c) rise of competing issues; and d) strong resistance from the car industry. The findings underline that the greening of industry cannot be fully understood by looking only at the focal issue (e.g. air pollution). Broader developments in industry and external contexts also need to be taken into account

The resurgence of industrial policies in the age of advanced manufacturing: an international comparison of industrial policy documents

This paper analyses recent industrial policy plans made by five leading countries: China, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. This is done through the analysis of policy documents, using an original framework. Our analysis reveals that these policies have two main motivations. First, the acknowledgement of new technological opportunities and challenges, that allow not only for higher growth rates and competitiveness, but also for addressing ‘societal challenges’ (persistent socio-environmental problems). Second, the growing understanding that, because of the increasing complexity of innovation, private sector efforts alone are not enough, and a higher level of convergence between actors and institutions is needed. We also identify that the policy structures and proposed instruments of these strategies are quite conventional, which contrasts with the rhetoric of these policies. This reveals that the ‘resurgence’ of industrial policies is yet not a return to the ‘old’ policies of the twentieth century, but a new breed, which is much more cautious of interfering with market mechanisms

The resurgence of industrial policies in the age of advanced manufacturing: an international comparison of industrial policy documents

This paper analyses recent industrial policy plans made by five leading countries: China, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. This is done through the analysis of policy documents, using an original framework. Our analysis reveals that these policies have two main motivations. First, the acknowledgement of new technological opportunities and challenges, that allow not only for higher growth rates and competitiveness, but also for addressing ‘societal challenges’ (persistent socio-environmental problems). Second, the growing understanding that, because of the increasing complexity of innovation, private sector efforts alone are not enough, and a higher level of convergence between actors and institutions is needed. We also identify that the policy structures and proposed instruments of these strategies are quite conventional, which contrasts with the rhetoric of these policies. This reveals that the ‘resurgence’ of industrial policies is yet not a return to the ‘old’ policies of the twentieth century, but a new breed, which is much more cautious of interfering with market mechanisms

Prevalência de abuso físico na infância e exposição à violência parental em uma amostra brasileira Prevalence of physical abuse in childhood and exposure to parental violence in a Brazilian sample

O estudo objetivou avaliar a prevalência de abuso físico e exposição à violência parental na infância, segundo características sócio-demográficas. Um procedimento de amostragem de múltiplos estágios foi usado para selecionar 3.007 indivíduos de 14 anos de idade ou mais, entre 2005/2006, incluindo sujeitos de todas as regiões do país, assim, os resultados são nacionalmente representativos. Foram acessadas experiências de abuso físico (bater, bater com alguma coisa, queimar/escaldar, ameaçar/usar faca ou arma) e exposição à violência parental (testemunhou ameaça e/ou agressão física parental) na infância. Realizaram-se as análises através do teste qui-quadrado de Pearson. A prevalência de história de abuso físico na infância foi de 44,1%, sendo que 33,8% relataram história de abuso físico moderado e 10,3% abuso físico severo. A prevalência de exposição à violência parental foi de 26,1%, sendo que 7,5% testemunharam violência parental moderada e 18,6% testemunharam violência parental severa na infância. Análises combinadas entre estes dois tipos de violência demonstraram significativas associações entre elas. Estes resultados podem ajudar na implementação de estratégias de intervenção alertando profissionais de saúde para alta prevalência deste tipo de violência na população.<br>The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of physical abuse and exposure to parental violence during childhood, in relation to socio-demographic characteristics. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 3,007 individuals 14 years or older in 2005-2006, from all regions of the country. The study detected cases of physical abuse (beating, striking with objects, burning or scalding, threatening and/or using knives or firearms) and exposure to parental violence (witnessing parental threats and/or actual physical aggression) during childhood. Analyses were performed with the Pearson chi-square test. Prevalence of history of physical abuse in childhood was 44.1% (33.8% moderate, 10.3% severe). Prevalence of exposure to parental violence was 26.1% (7.5% witnessed moderate parental violence and 18.6% severe). Combined analyses of these two types of violence showed significant associations between them. The findings may help implement intervention strategies to call the attention of health professionals to the high prevalence of this type of violence