Economists used to think in terms of a linear model of innovation, which emphasized the drivers of “technology push”, from investment in research and development (R&D), and “market pull”, as firms respond to unmet consumer demand.
Page 2 Foxon, Kohler and Neuhoof (2008) in Foxon, T, Kohler, J. and Oughton, C. (2008) Innovation For A Low Carbon Economy Economic, Institutional and Management Approaches Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Policymakers must choose from a vast and diverse set of policy instruments to stimulate innovation in low-carbon energy technologies. Drawing on earlier debates in the economics of innovation, energy technology studies frequently distinguish between ‘demand-pull’, government actions that enlarge the market for a new technology, and ‘technology-push’ – those that influence the supply of new knowledge. While many have criticized the reduction of the complex process of innovation to two causal factors, the notion that policy per se can induce investment, and consequent improvements, in technologies by creating markets for them enjoys support from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives
Page 47 Nemet (2008) in Foxon, T, Kohler, J. and Oughton, C. (2008) Innovation For A Low Carbon Economy Economic, Institutional and Management Approaches Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
see also technology push
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