The social division and the integration of research and design labour: the case of microelectronic circuits

Abstract

To exploit the opportunities generated by the increasing miniaturiation and density of semiconductor devices new circuit designs, systems and applications must be created incessantly. To circuit designers (both academic and industrial) this entails a host of new interesting problems that need a solution and to firms the possibility of profiting by a sustained market growth. This paper shows how the sum or combination of profit and reputation motives, the former especially driving the behaviour of incumbent firms and entrepreneurial start-ups and the latter the conduct of researchers and designers belonging to the epistemic community, have drawn a transformation of the innovation system towards a flexible, decentralised and highly connected architecture. In particular, the following developments are illustrated: i) the increasing reliance of firms upon universities with regard to the task of carrying out exploratory and risky research on systems. In order to account for the pattern of the relationship between university and industry the applied research black box is unpacked; ii) the exchange of blocks of design information through the emerging market of design modules and the limits of this market, due to the need of integrative knowledg