Emergence of Industries: A Review and Future Directions

This paper reviews the literature on the emergence of industries and the theoretical and methodological approaches employed. The analysis reveals that industry emergence can be depicted as a three-stage process. In the first, initial stage, a disruption to the existing industrial order triggers the second, the co-evolutionary stage, which includes four sub-processes related to developments in technology, markets, activity networks and industry identity. The convergence of these sub-processes leads to the third stage, a growth stage and the birth of a new industry. While these three stages and the four sub-processes are well covered in the literature, the authors find that there is a lack of understanding in terms of the transitions between the stages, the interactions and interdependencies between sub-processes and moderating factors of industry emergence. Future research can bridge these gaps by exploring the different origins and initial conditions of industries, the processes and interactions in the earliest stages of industry emergence, and the role of facilitating and managing industry emergence. This implies a shift in the research focus from the industries that have emerged to the nascent processes of emergence.