Abstract
This paper draws on the literature of evolutionary economics and path-dependence to develop a structurationist model of technological evolution, with its stress on action, rules and resources for innovation. The model is then applied empirically the evolution of the global information industry. Action is constructed by firms' strategic action on innovation. Rules are norms, paradigms and institutional pressures that guide and constrain firms' innovation action. Resources, including institutional capital, networks, information and knowledge, reward firms' compliance to rules. Empirically" the paper reveals a series of firms' innovative action in the information industry of 1971-1997. It moves to conceptually afford the industry with rules of the game which include those of open systems, global logistics management, Strategic alliances, intellectual property rights protection and plural distribution channels. Once complied, rules open up the acquisition of industrial resources which, in general, include network externalities, cyberspace, venture capital and intellectual capital.