CAN STATE GOVERNMENT ACTIONS AFFECT INNOVATION AND ITS DIFFUSION - ANEXTENDED COMMUNICATION MODEL AND EMPIRICAL-TEST

This article looks at how a state government's roles as both a sponsor and a diffuser of an innovation affect the adoption-diffusion process . The article first develops a theoretical framework by extending the basic communication model of diffusion to include state government's r ole in state government-sponsored innovation and its diffusion. This m odel also incorporates organizational and innovation factors. Next an empirical test of the extended communication model is conducted using data on innovations sponsored by the New York State Energy Research an d Development Authority (NYSERDA). The results suggest that the degree of state government involvement in innovation development is positive ly associated with diffusion. The results also indicate that state gov ernment's diffusion-facilitating efforts such as providing information about innovations, financial support during development, and procedur al facilitation of development are positively related to industry's ad option decision for new innovation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.