MANAGING TECHNOLOGY AT THE INDIANAPOLIS-500

Technological advance in a particular field is typically the result of numerous incremental improvements, punctuated occasionally by major b reakthroughs. If the agents generating these advances pursue a singula r objective, it is possible to describe improvements in the relevant t arget variable through a technological progress function. Progress in qualifying speeds at the Indianapolis 500 motor race provides a record of this kind. Time trials, in which entrants compete for a position i n the starting field by completing four laps (10 miles) at top speed, have been conducted in the same, stylized fashion since 1920. The pote ntial effects of technology-push, in the form of radical increases in speeds, have been attenuated, however, by the race organizer's efforts to keep performance improvement well within the technological frontie r. Their objective in managing technology, through the setting of appr opriate rules and standards, has been to maintain spectator and sponso r interest by restraining the impact of major innovations. A smooth pr ogress function would indicate the successful pursuit of this objectiv e, whereas major discontinuities would suggest a breakdown of prevaili ng rules. The record shows that long-term continuity has in fact been maintained, albeit in the framework of distinct strategic regimes, tha t is, constellations of technology and rules that made for significant ly different rates of progress. Tracing the key developments that char acterize successive regimes yields useful insights into the ways in wh ich innovations and institutional adaptations interact to produce chan ge in a sociotechnical system.