Sociotechnical constituencies, game theory, and the diffusion of compact discs. An inter-disciplinary investigation into the market for recorded music

摘要

This article was motivated by the inquiry of the National Heritage Committee of the British House of Commons into the price of compact discs in 1993. Its general thrust is to foster the dialogue between sociological approaches to the study of innovation and microeconomic theory. To do this, it presents a comprehensive case study of technological innovation in the market for recorded music in Britain. The material is analysed with the aid of the 'sociotechnical constituencies' approach recently proposed in this journal by Alfonso Molina, followed by a game theoretical analysis of competitive alignment between the dominant constituents.