Specializing in general purpose technologies as a firm long-term strategy

An important legacy of Nathan Rosenberg’s work is the notion of general purpose technologies (GPTs). This paper studies whether and when firms specialize in developing GPTs and trading them in intermediate markets, a strategy we call “specialization in generality.” In particular, we address whether and under what contingencies this is a long-term strategy adopted by firms as they age—against the “common wisdom” that aging firms specialize in downstream product markets.