technological progressiveness

technological progressiveness
an aspect of MARKET PERFORMANCE that denotes the extent to which firms develop and introduce new and improved products, production and distribution techniques. Radical INVENTIONS and INNOVATIONS may make it possible to reduce manufacturing and distribution costs, thereby permitting a lowering of the supply price to the consumer. See Fig. 182 (a) . In the theory of costs, firms are assumed to operate within existing technological boundaries in both the SHORT RUN and the LONG RUN, but in the VERY LONG RUN, technological progressiveness serves to change the underlying cost conditions. For example, Fig. 182 (b) shows how the time andcost to undertake a particular data-processing activity has been reduced by improvements in computer technology Technological progressiveness in aggregate terms affects a country's rate of ECONOMIC GROWTH. (See ECONOMIC GROWTH for further discussion.) See also MONOPOLY, PRODUCT PERFORMANCE, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, SOLOW ECONOMIC GROWTH MODEL, TECHNOLOGICAL UNEMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY, AUTOMATION.