Network effects and the adoption of new technology: evidence from the U.S. telecommunications industry
研究了美国电信行业40家最大企业在1973-1987年间采用电子交换技术的变化，发现运营规模效应和需求规模效应影响采用，但模仿效应未得到支持。
This paper examines variations in the adoption of new technology by firms operating in a network-based industry: telecommunications. These variations are explained as a function of three network effects: the first is the conversion effect, driven by operations-related increasing returns to scale; the second is the consumption effect, driven by demand-side increasing returns to scale; the third is an imitative effect. We expect the conversion effect to be felt more strongly during earlier phases of a technology's evolution, while a strong consumption effect is felt throughout. The imitative effect is also expected to be felt throughout. These hypotheses are examined with respect to electronic switching adoption in the local operating sector of the U.S. telecommunications industry. An analysis of the variations in adoption levels of the 40 largest firms over a period lasting from 1973 to 1987 supports our expectations, except for the imitative effect. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.