Resumen de Do innovation measures actually measure innovation? Obliteration, symbolic adoption, and other finicky challenges in tracking innovation diffusion
Andrew Nelson, Andrew Earle, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Julie Haack, Doug Young
Although innovation diffusion is a central topic in policy and strategy, its measurement remains difficult � particularly in cases where the innovation is a complex and possibly ambiguous practice. In this paper, we develop four theoretical mechanisms that may bias diffusion markers by leading to the understatement and/or overstatement of diffusion at different points in time. Employing the case of �green chemistry,� we then compare three different diffusion markers � keywords, database index terms, and domain expert assessments � and we demonstrate how they lead to differing conclusions about the magnitude and timing of diffusion, organizational demography, publication outlets, and collaboration. We also provide suggestive evidence of extensive �greenwashing� by particular organization types and in particular countries. Building on these findings, we point to potential challenges with existing diffusion studies, and we make a case for the incorporation of practitioners in construct measurement and for the integration of comparative metrics in diffusion studies.
