Spatial variation in diffusion of technological innovations at the state, regional, and cross-national levels
 
                         Hsu, Maxwell Kuohsuan; DBA

                         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.
 


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