Assessing threats and opportunities of induced technology change: Long and short term cycles in the carmaker industry

摘要

This paper introduces an industrial transformation model applied to the carmaker industry. We analyze the interaction between supply and demand as well as policy regulations supporting the diffusion of advanced vehicle technologies. It allows assessing prospectively threats and opportunities of induced technology changes for industries. The simulation exercise provides evidence that smart governance approaches involving concerted entrepreneurial and political decision making can avert severe industrial crisis of adjustment during phases of socio-technical transitions. The overall cycle pattern seems to play out over a time period of 50 years. It is strongly influenced by the climate policy regime and the innovation investment behavior of firms. It results in a sectoral boom phase once the transition towards near zero emission vehicles has been mastered. The policy induced technology change pattern is comparable to the long wave theory in terms of its duration and the argument, that deep structural causes are innovation processes in whole technological systems. Moreover, we have identified the drivers of single short term cash cycles. Differences between cash inflow and outflow over time that are triggered by strategy and policy changes explain short term fluctuations.