Where Do Games of Innovation Come From? Explaining the Persistence of Dynamic Innovation Patterns

This paper contributes to explaining how and why distinct games of innovation emerge by suggesting that games are nested in innovation systems with persistent innovation dynamics. Dominant lifecycle models focus on how innovation systems transit from an effervescent stage, to product innovation, to process innovation, and so on. They propose specific mechanisms and limiting conditions that affect knowledge production and investment to explain these systematic transitions. Building on these models, we rethink the conditions and mechanisms of innovation to suggest that endogenous renewal cycles can re-create the knowledge and funding necessary to maintain innovation systems for long periods in one stage. We take steps towards developing a theoretical model of innovation dynamics that extends the applicability of lifecycle theories and unifies them with emerging views such as high-velocity innovation and hyper-competition. We also describe three possible types of endogenous renewal cycles, each sustaining a different level of knowledge dynamism and enabling different types of games of innovation.