What Does Firm Shaping of Markets Really Mean?

Abstract

This paper seeks to enhance our understanding of the shaping of a market by a firm or set of firms competing in that market. The analysis draws on evolutionary economics and incorporates insights from prior research on shaping that has relied on a socio-cognitive perspective. The approach taken here can provide a means to more clearly distinguish shaping from adaptation and search and has implications for organization–environment coevolution and the evolution of competitive advantage.