LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY,1999
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, MARKETING (0338); GEOGRAPHY (0366)
This dissertation seeks to investigate and explain the differences in the adoption
rates of several
technological innovations at three levels of aggregation: (1) U.S. state level,
(2) U.S. Bureau of Census
regional level, and (3) cross-national level. A unique feature of this dissertation
is that it focuses not only
on the temporal (time-related) but also on the spatial (space-related) dimensions
of the process of
diffusion of innovations. The Mansfield-Blackman diffusion model (1974) is used
to estimate the
adoption rates of three technological innovations over the period 1960–90
across the 50 states
of the U.S. The model is also used to estimate the adoption rates of six technological
innovations over
the period 1965–77 across the nine regions of the U.S. The model is
further used to estimate the
adoption rates of eight technological innovations over the period 1971–90
across 14 European
countries. Multiple regression models have been used to explain the variation
in the adoption rates of an
innovation using socioeconomic variables, socio-economic and personal-value
variables, and
socio-economic and culture variables across states, regions, and nations, respectively.
For the state
analysis, the annual raw data related to the explanatory variables are mainly
compiled from different issues
of the <italic>Statistical Abstract of the United States</italic>. For
the regional analysis, the explanatory
variables related to the socio-economic variables are mainly compiled from the
same Statistical Abstract
whereas personal-value variables are obtained from a study by Kahle (1986).
For the cross-national
analysis, the explanatory variables related to the socio-economic variables
are mainly compiled from
various editions of <italic>International Monetary Fund</italic> publications
and <italic>European
Marketing Data and Statistics</italic> whereas national culture variables
for different countries are
obtained from Hofstede (1980). The results of the data analyses give support
to seven research
propositions. They are: (1) PI: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological
innovation differs by state,
(2) P2: In the U.S., the adoption rate of a technological innovation differs
by region, (3) P3: The adoption
rate of a technological innovation differs by country, (4) P4: The adoption
rate of a technological
innovation in a lag country is higher than it is in a lead country, (5) P5:
In the U.S., the adoption rate of a
technological innovation in a state is affected by its socio-economic characteristics,
(6) P6: In the U.S.,
the adoption rate of a technological innovation in a geographic region is affected
by personal
value-related variables, and (7) P7: The adoption rate of a technological innovation
across countries is
influenced by national culture.
Social
Systems Simulation Group
P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA 92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX (619) 660-1603 |