Understanding the effects of different generations of large-scale technological change

Completed

Not Energy Related
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electric power conversion)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Economics and Econometrics)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies)

Not Cross-cutting
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Professor N Crafts
Department of Economic History
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Standard

ESRC

01 October 2001

31 March 2005

42 months

£175,288

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

London

ESRC Electricity

Professor N Crafts, Department of Economic History, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Objectives not supplied

This project will use modern economic theory to measure more accurately the effects of major technological changes. It aims to increase our understanding in three ways. First, by comparing the current major new technology - computing - with two previous generations of large-scale technological change, railways and electricity, we will create a yardstick by which to judge what constitutes a large effect. Second, we will move away from the commonly held assumption that new technology simply reduces the price of existing goods. We will instead include the notion that major new technologies create new goods, and that consumers value some of those new goods very highly. By considering technology from consumers as well as producers points of view, we will ensure that our work looks at social as well as private returns. Third, we will look at the extent to which these technologies deserve the term general purpose, by looking at how evenly the effects of each technology is spread across thedifferent sectors of the economy. Insofar as regions and countries are economically specialised, this understanding is important for public policy responses both to the current and to future generations of large-scale technological change.

04/11/11