On the Technological Isomorphism of Insurance Business Method Patents — The Perspective of Social Network Analysis
Author
Abstract
Technological developments showed a complex system of cause-result effects. There were various perspectives of technological evolution due to theory's consideration can not take all variables into account. The interpretations of technological change went different directions because of the differences of perspectives and literatures. The concepts of Abernathy and Utterback（1978）、Nelson and Winter（1982）and Dosi（1982） interpreted the embeddedness and constrains of technologies, as well as clearly demonstrated the ways of technology choices. Most of researches focus their analysis on the individual technology as a unit and the results sometimes away from the reality. On the contrary, social network analysis treated different individual technologies as a whole. We might get better analysis result benefited from using the method of social network analysis. This paper proposed a network-based of citation-analytic methodology and has sought to look at the issue of technological isomorphism and its technological implications. This paper selected patent data of “ insurance business method” as an example to explore possible technological trajectories in insurance. The result of this research also found the technological isomorphism in insurance already occurs. The contribution of this paper is to introduce the social network analysis into patent citations to foresee the technological development. The conclusion of technological implications and applications will provide insights for industries.
Key Words
Social Network Analysis, Technological Isomorphism, Patent Citation, Technological Network
