Frugal innovation and the digital divide:Developing an extended model of the diffusion of innovations

Based on diffusion of innovation(DOI)theory and economic consumption analysis as well as the concept of frugal innovation,this study develops an extended DOI model that theorizes the characteristics of the diffusion of frugal information communication technologies(ICTs)and their impacts on the Internet diffusion.This model posits that frugal digital ICTs diffuse more rapidly in developing countries than in developed countries and significantly bridge the digital divide between them.The diffusion of frugal smartphones is investigated as a case of the diffusion of frugal digital ICTs,which provides empirical evidence for the theoretical model presented herein.

Overconfidence and the adoption of robo-advice:why overconfident investors drive the expansion of automated financial advice

Adaptive online platforms,powered by artificial intelligence,commonly referred to as robo-advice,steadily increase their market share.Yet these comparably new financial services are critically understudied.Little is known about why some investors adopt robo-advice for something as essential as asset allocation.The current paper tries to close this gap by shedding light on the causal effect of investor overconfidence on the propensity of using robo-advice.The study proposes a theoretical framework that combines the divergence of opinion hypothesis with consumer behavior insights and information technology diffusion research.The framework is empirically tested on the Investor Sample of the 2015 National Financial Capability Study,a subsample of 2000 US investors.The results from a series of generalized linear,structural,and semipara-metric models show that in a pre-chasm market,overconfident investors have a significantly higher propensity of adopting robo-advice.While higher financial literacy seems to decrease robo-advice uptake,unjustified confidence in one’s knowledge causally increases it.Willingness to take financial risk cannot account for the significantly increased adoption of robo-advice among overconfident investors.The findings help managers to better position robo-advice by offering behavioral insights into their user base.In addition,the results outline a managerial tool to take demand-side actions to increase the likelihood of an end-user innovation crossing the chasm.

Cluster-Based Advantages in the Innovation Process： The Diffusion of Nanotechnology in Two Chinese Cities

Researchers have shown that ＂cluster＂ is a more useful unit of analysis than ＂nation＂ in innovation studies. Clusters are characterized by interconnected organizations, shared resources and frequent knowledge flows. Within national boundaries, multiple clusters with different relative advantages may coexist, and exhibit very different innovation patterns. Yet, in studies of innovation in emerging economies, there remains little attention on cluster-based advantages, and how these advantages generate distinct patterns of innovation. To bridge this gap, this study analyzes the diffusion patterns of nanotechnology in two Chinese clusters--Beijing and Shanghai. With different relative advantages, the diffusion of nanotechnology has been oriented by different levels of ＂imitation＂ and ＂innovation＂ forces in the two Chinese clusters. This study applies the Bass Model to quantify imitation and innovation forces, and compare the resultant diffusion patterns of nanotechnology in the two clusters with other technologies. Supplementary qualitative data is also provided to show how Chinese scientists perceive their relative advantages in different clusters. Among other things, the findings suggest that scientists of emerging economies favor the learning-by-doing principle while utilizing external networks.

Role of new ideas in the mobile phone market share

In this work,dynamics of diffusion of innovation in the smartphone markets is modeled by using an agent-based simulation in a period of 28 quarters starting from 2009.Rapid changes in smartphone technology affected the consumer preferences and two operating systems,namely Android and iOS,out of over 10 operating systems,and dominated the smartphone markets in a period of 6 years.The model aims to study the conditions of competition and adoption among similar high technology products.Relative roles of the essential parameters,namely affordability and social effects have been the main interest points in these studies.For this end,a simple,Cobb–Douglas production relation-based model on simple square lattice is introduced.The model parameters are adjusted to match the simulation results with the actual market shares data obtained from Statista.A clear relation between the model parameter values and global sales of different operating systems is observed.

Applicability of public sector reform initiatives of the Yemeni government from the integrated TOE-DOI framework

Effective resource allocation and accountability are critical for public services in countries facing a crisis,to ensure minimum inequality and even save lives.Administrative innovation is introduced as public sector reform to improve the performance and accountability of public sector organizations.Despite the said benefit,little has been done to study public administrative innovation in countries under crisis.This study extends the literature by examining the attitude of civil service managers to the administrative innovation in the Yemeni government representing a country in crisis from an integrated perspective of technology-organization-environment(TOE)and diffusion of innovation(DOI)theory.Data was collected from a survey of 200 civil service managers of the Yemeni central government.The result shows that the attitude of managers to private sector management style is scored the highest representing the key tool of the public administrative innovation.On the other hand,the downsizing elements were ranked the least significant as public sector reform elements.The explanatory model highlights the use of information technology,quality of human resources,and budget management orientation as significant factors for the applicability of public administrative innovation in the Yemeni central government.