A central characteristic of cutting-edge technological innovation
Description:
A central characteristic of cutting-edge technological innovation is that it is inherently uncertain (or, risky). Fred Block & Matthew Keller (“Where Do Innovations Come From?”) present evidence that shows that technological development is socially shaped and not, as a technologically deterministic perspective would assume, autonomous from society.
For both (a) the post-World War II period through about 1980; and (b) the period from 1980 to the present, explain how the “national innovation system” of each period manages the problem of uncertainty and therefore what patterns emerge in the social contexts from which technological innovations predominantly originate.
No sources are needed.