Innovation and institutional change: the transition to a sustainable ...

Chapter 2
Theoretical perspectives
2.1 Introduction
The objective of this dissertation is to analyse developments in the electricity
system in order to understand their potential contribution to fundamental
change in the electricity system. In order to be able to assess the nature of
changes in the electricity system and their driving forces, a first analytical
step is to gain more insight in processes of systems change based on
theoretical observations from other scholars. Therefore this chapter presents
an overview of theoretical work relevant to the study of systems change and
focuses on the way different theoretical streams deal with the institutional
factor in fundamental changes of production and consumption systems (in
short: systems change). The chapter is guided by the following research
question:
How do existing theories understand processes of systems change, the
interaction of technological and institutional change within these processes,
and the factors that explain whether these interactions reinforce or weaken
the existing system?
The issue is how to analyse fundamental changes in complex systems of
production and consumption consisting of a range of actors, linkages and
components. Our main premise is that fundamental change in a system of
production and consumption such as the electricity system involves several
change processes that occur both simultaneous and sequential, and at
different levels of firms, users, sectors, governance systems, systems of
innovation and society at large. The main challenge is to increase
understanding in how change processes interlock and acquire a certain
velocity and direction (or momentum as Hughes (1983) would say) towards
an alternative or new sociotechnical configuration. A further challenge is to
gain understanding whether, when, where and how sustainability can be
successfully incorporated into those change processes. The purpose is to
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