Product tying and innovation in U.S. wire preparation equipment
研究了电线制备设备中零件与设备的捆绑现象，发现同时生产零件和设备的公司更可能进行设备创新，并探讨了捆绑可能促进创新的机制。
This paper explores a possible correlation between product tying and innovation in manufacturing equipment. An original study of innovations in electronic wire preparation equipment, described herein, suggests a relationship between the two. Specifically, certain parts used in the wire preparation process are effectively tied to the equipment that handles them, and innovations in that equipment nearly always originated with firms that manufacture both the parts and the equipment. Literature is examined to reveal that other production processes characterized by part-equipment tying have also exhibited frequent innovation from the same type of firm. A preliminary explanation for the relationship, based on existing tying and innovation theories, is forwarded. It is based on the assumption that when parts and machines can be tied, firms that sell both can appropriate greater economic benefit from equipment innovation that can firms that sell equipment only. If this indeed explains the equipment innovation by part/equipment manufacturers, then product tying, generally considered a potentially harmful restraint of trade, may in some circumstances be an inducement to innovation.