Strict liability and consumer product innovation: Results from a cross-industry pilot study

International Journal of Technology Management

Volumn 12, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 242-251

  Papadakis, Maria ^a,c,d   Zollers, Frances E ^b   Hurd, Sandra N ^b  

^a JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Competitiveness; Consumer products; Innovation; Liability

Indexed keywords

COMPETITION; CONSUMER PRODUCTS; LAWS AND LEGISLATION; MARKETING; MODERNIZATION; TECHNOLOGY;

INNOVATION;

PRODUCT LIABILITY;

EID: 0030421959     PISSN: 02675730     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. Lasagna, L., (1991) 'The chilling effect of product liability on new drug development', in Huber, P. and Litan, R. (eds.) The Liability Maze (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution) and Mastroianni, L. et al. (eds.), Developing New Contraceptives: Obstacles and Opportunities (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1990).
2. Lasagna, L., (1991) 'The chilling effect of product liability on new drug development', in Huber, P. and Litan, R. (eds.) The Liability Maze (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution) and Mastroianni, L. et al. (eds.), Developing New Contraceptives: Obstacles and Opportunities (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1990).
3. Mackay, M. (1991)'Liability, safety, and innovation in the automotive industry', in Huber, P. and Litan, R. (eds.) The Liability Maze (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution).
4. Ashford, N. and Stone, R.F., (1991) 'Liability, innovation, and safety in the chemical industry', in Huber, P. and Litan, R. (eds.) The Liability Maze (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution).
5. Viscusi, K. and Moor, M. (1993) 'Product liability, research and development, and innovation', Journal of Political Economy vol. 101, #1 (1993): pp.161-184.
6. The European Commuity became the European Union with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty in November 1993. Readers interested in more detail on the Treaty's provisions - as well as the rather complex structure of the EU - may find it on the World Wide Web at http://eubasics.allmansland.com/general.html.
7. Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc., 59 Cal.2d 57, 377 P.2d 897.
8. Katz, M. (1986) 'The role of the legal system in technological innovation and economic growth,' in Landau, R. and Rosenberg, N. (eds.) The Positive Sum Strategy: Harnessing Technology for Economic Growth (Washington, DC: national Academy Press).
9. Beshada v. Johns-Manville Products Corporation (90 N.J. 191, 447 A.2d 539 (1982).
10. Council Directive of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products, 28 O.J. EUR. COMM. (No. L 210) 29 (1985).
11. A copy of the survey may be obtained from any of the authors.
12. Dess and Robinson [12] found that company self-ratings with respect to competitive business performance are highly consistent with objective performance data on sales, profits, market share, and so forth.
13. Dess, G.G. and Robinson, R.B. (1984) 'Measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures: the case of the privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit', Strategic Management Journal vol. 5: pp.265-273.
14. Department of Commerce, U.S. Industrial Outlook 1992 and U.S. Industrial Outlook 1993 (Washington, DC: U.S. GPO).
15. Such was not the case with their US experiences. Only about one-quarter of the firms had no experience with product liability litigation in the USA, and a core set of firms experienced a systematically worsening liability environment. For about 20-25% of the companies, lawsuits were up, perceived fairness of the settlements was down, and number of settlements in favour of the plaintiffs was up. Notably, this worsening environment was concentrated in the toy industry: nearly twice as many toy companies experienced a worsening environment than lawn and garden equipment firms.