path dependence

Noun

Meaning

(countable) A situation in which the outcome varies with the route taken.

(uncountable, economics) The theory that a technological option selected by the market need not be the technologically best one, because of the traction obtained by an early-introduced, technologically inferior alternative option.

Examples

If there is one single area of economics in which path dependence is unmistakable, it is in economic geography – the location of production in space. Paul Krugman

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