Innovation Characteristics as Correlates of Innovation Adoption in American Cities

Innovation is considered to be a key element in productivity improvement. Decisions concerning innovation adoption in over 100 American cities were examined. Data were gathered from responses to questionnaires by municipal officials and from information concerning the environmental characteristics of the cities. The model which was tested related the adoption of innovations to socioeconomic factors, to the characteristics of the local political structures, and particularly, to the attributes of the innovations themselves, which are importance, radicalness, and visibility. The results suggest that the rating of the innovation's importance by the chief administrator of a city is often the key correlate to the adoption of the innovation. There are implications that inducing unanimity of opinion between city officials is a positive factor in facilitating innovation.