Book Reviews

• Author: David L. McNicol
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X7401900223
• Published date: 01 June 1974
• Date: 01 June 1974

BOOK

REVIEWS

451

John

E. Tilton,

International

Diffusion

of

Technology:

The

Case

of

Semiconductors, Washington: The Brookings In-

stitution (1971), 183 pp.,$7.95.

The development of a commercially viable product or

process from an invention is notoriously risky

and

typically

expensive. Consequently, the innovative process is seldom

repeated

in

toto by firms

that

eventually adopt the innova-

tion. Instead, the innovation itself is "diffused" from the

original source through a

variety

of channels.

Invention, innovation, and the relationship between the

two have been extensively studied. The

diffusion

of innova-

tion has not, although there

are

studies of the diffusion of

innovations in the U.S., most notably those by Griliches"

and

Mansfield," These studies have established the diffusion of

innovation as a distinguishable

part

of the process of tech-

nical change, identified the crucial considerations in the

firm'sdecision to innovate, and described thetime required

for the diffusion of several

major

innovations.

Tilton's book is auseful addition to thesmall corpus of

work on thediffusion of technical innovations. The book

has

little to

say

about the decisions of individual firms.

It

does

identify the channels through which semiconductor tech-

nology was diffused

and

explains these in terms of the econom-

ics of theindustry. The principal novelty ofthebook isits

concern with the diffusion of technology across national

borders, which is clearly atimely topic.

It

was recognized

from

the earliest days of the

industry

that

semiconductors might be used in place of vacuum tubes.

Attempts to develop practicable semiconductors began

in

the

1930's,

but

the seminal development occurred in1948, when

Bell Laboratories announced

its

invention of the point con-

1Z. Griliches,

"Hybrid

Corn: An Exploration of the Economics

of Technological Change," Econometrica, Vol. 25 (Oct., 1967), pp.

501-522.

2E. Mansfield, Industrial Research and Technological Innovation

(New

York:

Norton, 1968),

Part

IV.