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Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

matt-clancy.com

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Re: Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

#2

Post by adaisadais »

This is most excellent - lots of stuff I’ve not heard about nor read. Looking forward to checking these out this year.

My personal recommendations are to read “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by the late Clayton Christensen and “Ecclesiastes” (ESV for Native English speakers) by Koholet.

“The Innovator’s Dilemma” has had a major impact on me. Keep moving the ball forward and keep finding the biggest market despite what your current market thinks.

“Ecclesiastes” is a great reminder that we will all die and it is good to be apart in the present. To innovate. To make things better regardless if we will live to see the positive impact or not.

Both are honestly great books about life in general too.

Re: Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

#5

Post by padobson »

adaisadais wrote: post #2

This is most excellent - lots of stuff I’ve not heard about nor read. Looking forward to checking these out this year. My personal recommendations are to read “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by the late Clayton Christensen and “Ecclesiastes” (ESV for Native English speakers) by Koholet. “The Innovator’s Dilemma” has had a major impact on me. Keep moving the ball forward and keep finding the biggest market despite what your…

Came here to mention that I thought Christensen was absent from the list, but thought your Ecclesiastes (which can be found in just about every Jewish or Christian Bible) recommendation was inspired.

Ecclesiastes talks so much about the rhythms of life and the benefits of gaining knowledge and then using knowledge, the benefits of working hard and celebrating accomplishment. When I look at our various economic cycles, especially periods of innovation followed by periods of consolidation in tech, I can see a lot to draw from Ecclesiastes. I'll be pondering it more!

Re: Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

#6

Post by jti107 »

slightly related...there was a write up on DARPA on HN couple months ago that I thought was fantastic. essentially a guide on how DARPA works and how one might be able to improve/replicate it on the civilian side. i read somewhere that DARPA provided Moderna with funding to research mRNA in 2005, so pretty impressive.

Re: Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

#8

Post by snidane »

Ericson2314 wrote: post #7

I wish there was something mentioning the tightness of the labor market. If workers are plentiful, is there as much incentive to automate?

The fundamentals of this are described by Ricardo and George through Law of Rent, which defines 'wage' in the context of rent and limited supply of land. With infinite supply of quality land, 'workers' and 'wages' would not need to exist as everybody could just be an entrepreneur/capitalist.

Similar to Coases's theory of transaction costs, without which companies would not need to exist as everybody could transact freely amongst each other.

Re: Economics of Innovation: Detailed Reading List (2019)

#9

Post by lhpz »

There is one very important book missing from this list: Diffusion of Innovation by Everett Rogers (1). Most of the innovation teaching in business schools today, is directly inspired from this book, first published in 1962. You’d be surprised that the fundamentals of Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory have not changed that much over the years but are still extremely useful today; only the communication channels have changed. The human psychology (early adopters/laggards) or the sociology remain the same. Most people adopt innovations only after they’ve seen the benefits in action in their close friends or relative circles. Hence the importance of social networks for the diffusion of innovations, not to be restricted to early 21st century Facebook style digital social networks.

This theory also explains why innovators should target niche markets, and then expand to larger markets, and not the other way around. It is much easier to overcome the inevitable resistance to change on a specialized niche market, and then the social network effect will help with adoption on larger and larger circles.

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Rogers

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