Time and technological innovation: Implications for public policy

The speed with which modern technologies are innovated seems to be accelerating and there appears to be some consensus that faster technological change is likely to create substantial problems for public policy makers. But what is the empirical evidence for the impression of more rapid technological advancement? And what does this evidence imply for the future of policy making? Answering these questions involves assessing the empirical research based in four temporal models that form the bases for measuring innovation time (product cycle, barrier–breakthrough, technological discontinuity, and continuous change) according to four analytical approaches (product concentrations, expert opinion, sales growth and decline, and age of cited patents). Based on this assessment, multiple categories of policy-relevant temporal indicators are recommended.