Imitation & Innovation in Emerging Countries: A conceptual framework for analysis

Abstract

The ultimate aims of our research are to i) offer a technical description of imitation behavior, ii)modelize imitation with other related factors to present an overall model where all importantfactors can be measurable, and iii) utilize the model to measure the impacts of imitation.Therefore, understanding the concept of imitation and other related concepts in order toproperly characterize these concepts, and then building a conceptual model are the first stepstoward achieving this aim. This paper will focus on i) the review of the literature on imitationand its limitation, ii) the understanding of the relationship between imitation and other relatedconcepts, and iii) the resultant suggestions on a conceptual framework for analysis.