How Disruptive Technologies Spawn New Industries: Mechanisms, Controversies, and Future Research Agenda

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the literature on how disruptive technologies catalyze the formation of new industries. We first clarify conceptual boundaries between disruptive technologies and adjacent innovation constructs. Drawing on Schumpeterian innovation theory, evolutionary economics, and industrial organization theory, we develop a four‐dimensional transmission‐mechanism framework to unpack the evolutionary logic of new industry formation. Further, we identify four core academic controversies regarding disruption paths, actor roles, institutional functions, and mechanism heterogeneity, and trace the theoretical roots and empirical limitations behind divergent viewpoints. On this basis, this paper outlines a multi‐dimensional future research agenda covering theoretical integration, empirical expansion, policy research, and scenario extension. This review strengthens the unified conceptual foundation for subsequent studies and offers differentiated insights for firm innovation strategies and industrial policy design across digital, biotech, and energy technology scenarios.