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Irreversibilites in science and technology networks: An empirical and analytical approach

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Abstract

The theory of autopoiesis, i.e., self-referentiality in the operation of the system, provides us with a production rule for change in the structure of the network. Using information theory, a model system is developed to study the relative likelihood of “dynamic” transitions: various senses of “irreversibility” (“emergence”, and “path dependency”) are disinguished. A test for “path dependency” is applied to two sets of empirical data which supposedly reflect historical discontinuities: the budget of theFraunhofer Gesellschaft, and the citation network among AIDS research related journals. The model for the interaction between self-referential developments and goal-referential boundary conditions is further specified, using the example of technological trajectories and selection environments.

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Notes and references

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  1. Department of Science Dynamics, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Leydesdorff, L. Irreversibilites in science and technology networks: An empirical and analytical approach. Scientometrics 24, 321–357 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017914

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