In Innovation and Use, I emphasize the importance in technology adoption of devoting purposive effort to absorb and adapt foreign techniques. First, I advance a theory of technology adoption. The key feature of the model is that the information needed to make adopted ideas more appropriate for the firms environment cannot be acquired automatically through repetitive experience in production; thus, the firm undertakes research and development to make the adopted ideas more efficient. The model predictions are consistent with several empirical regularities. Next, I extend the model to show that...