The Impact Of Government Intervention On Technological Regimes: The Sourcing Of Financial Innovation

Scholars and managers alike seek to better explain disruptive change and its effects on technological regimes. In this study, we apply two logics of change — Schumpeterian and punctuated equilibrium — and conduct a natural experiment to evaluate how a governmental intervention shock affected the sourcing of knowledge within an existing technological regime. In particular, we investigate the extent to which patterns of knowledge sourcing changed within the technological regime governing financial innovation. We find that patterns of knowledge sourcing change subsequent to the government intervention, but in more nuanced ways as predicted by Schumpeterian and punctuated equilibrium logic. Specifically, knowledge sourcing demonstrates an “accelerated” punctuated equilibrium change with knowledge convergence between incumbents and new entrants occurring under high levels of uncertainty, rather than when the regime stabilized. We discuss the implications on Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction, as disruptive change may only undermine some aspects of an existing technological regime.