The impact of government intervention in technological transitions: evidence from Dutch history

摘要

Traditionally, technological transitions in network sectors are matters for the private sector. History teaches us that as soon as technological transitions proved successful, the government sooner or later got involved with the distribution. This article aims to answer two questions, namely, (1) how do governmental bodies use legal instruments in the control, stimulation and accommodation of technological change, and (2) what effects do legal instruments have on the operation of innovative private entrepreneurs. Effects on private innovators are qualified as positive, neutral or negative. The research method chosen has been inspired by insights from legal sociology, the public choice theory and strategic actor behaviour in qualitative simulation-games, but follows distinct methodological steps. Throughout the article, a case study on the transition from telegraphy to telephony in The Netherlands will be used to illustrate the discussion.