Models of innovation: Why models of innovation are models, or what work is being done in calling them models?

Abstract

Models abound in the literature on innovation. They are continuously being invented and succeed one after the other. At the same time, these models are regularly criticized. This article looks at models of innovation and conducts a conceptual analysis of models. To the producers and users of models of innovation, a model has at least five different meanings: conceptualization, narrative, figure, tool, and perspective. This article suggests that the term ‘model’ has both a scientific and a rhetorical function. A ‘model’ is a symbol of scientificity and travels easily between scholars and between the latter and policy-makers. Calling a conceptualization or narrative or tool ‘model’ facilitates its propagation.