Effects of Firm Resource Commitment Along the Value Chain on Path-Dependent Choices in Wind Adoption.

The adoption of new technology by incumbent firms is a multi-stage process in which each investment influences future decisions in a path-dependent manner. Building on the capability lifecycle framework, we look beyond initial adoption to investigate how prior new technology investments affect subsequent stages of new technology adoption through two modes. We demonstrate how past commitments along the value chain-dependence on old technology, complementary assets, and customer base-can work against the tendency to continue along a path, and thereby avoid lock-in. Heterogeneous resource commitments thus influence not only the timing of initial adoption, but also the further stages of a new technology's adoption. Our empirical context is incumbent utilities' foray into wind energy in the U.S. electricity industry between 2005 and 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]