Receptive Capacity of Established Industries as a Limiting Factor in the Economy's Rate of Innovation¹

Abstract

Although scholars and policy makers have widely acknowledged the importance of so-called high-technology industries as drivers of economic change, they have paid insufficient attention to the interaction between high-tech sectors and the remainder of the economy in developed countries. We contend that any constructive view of economic change must recognize the importance of the diffusion of innovative products and processes to the economy as a whole through the role that firms in established sectors play as customers and suppliers for high-tech firms. It is important to insure that the ""Receptive Capacity'' that these firms bring to innovative situations is as high as possible. To demonstrate our point, we first use ""old'' growth theory to develop a model of economic change and then show how this model ties in with ""new' ' growth theory by providing a convincing justification for investment in R&D and other innovative activities.