Knowledge and Competitive Advantage: The Coevolution of Firms, Technology, and National Advantage

Entrepreneurs, managers, and policy makers must make decisions about a future that is inherently uncertain. Since the only rational guide for the future is the past, analysis of previous episodes in industrial development can shape informed decisions. Johann Peter Murmann compares the development of the synthetic dye industry in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States through the lenses of evolutionary theory. The rise of this industry constitutes an important chapter in business, economic, and technological history because synthetic dyes, invented in 1856, were the first scientific discovery quickly to give rise to a new industry. Murmann identifies differences in educational institutions and patent laws as the key reasons for German leadership in the industry, demonstrating how a complex coevolutionary process linking firms, technology, and national institutions produced very different degrees of industrial success across the three countries.

Reflections on Knowledge and Competitive Advantage

“Rarely has any student of economic change combined impeccable scholarship, sophisticated theory, challenging ideas, and engaging narrative in the elegant manner of Johann Peter Murmann. Readers who have no interest whatsoever in industrial chemistry will nevertheless learn a great deal about economic processes from Murmann’s original, ambitious work.”

Charles Tilly, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science, Columbia University

“If evolutionary models are to be successful at all in the social sciences, it is in enhancing our understanding of technological and economic performance in the past. In this pioneering work, Johann Peter Murmann does exactly that, and immediately establishes himself as one of the most innovative and bold scholars in the field. This is one of the most methodologically original books in interdisciplinary history to come out in recent years.”

Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor, Northwestern University

“Murmann’s study of the synthetic dye industry puts one in mind of some grand painting by an Old Master: not only is the main scene imposingly displayed, but fascinating, well-rendered details are to be found in every corner and shadow.”

Sidney G. Winter, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

“In this remarkable book Johann Peter Murmann sets out a general analysis of coevolution and provides a detailed example to back it up. Murmann provides a well-developed theory and evidence to support it. Who could ask for more?”

David L. Hull, Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus), Northwestern University

“Johann Peter Murmann’s book is a major contribution to our understanding of the interrelations between technological change and industry evolution. It is a book for researchers as well as for policy makers.”

Michael Tushman, Paul R. Lawrence Professor, Harvard Business School

“Johann Peter Murmann’s book shows convincingly that competitive advantage, especially in the knowledge-intensive industries, is firmly rooted in national institutions. He makes a major contribution to the fields of strategic management, organizational theory, and technological innovation.”

Mauro F. Guillén, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania