Standardisation of network technologies: Market processes or the result ofinter-firm co-operation?

As recent studies on the evolution of a technology indicate, the role of a standard, or dominant design, is highly significant in a number of contempo rary industries such as computer, telecommunications and consumer electroni cs. Following Katz' and Shapiro's pioneering works (1985), our paper ration ally evaluates the concepts and results developed over the past ten years i n this field. It is grounded on a typology of two types of models: the firs t is based on users' anticipatory behaviour, and the second, on the collabo rative behaviour of existing firms. The article initially discusses the spe cificity of network technologies, then analyses market standardisation mode ls, and finally, studies the different actors models. Our conclusion builds upon existing works in network technologies. We next propose a research ag enda.