AbstractThis study is a statistical analysis of the technological characteristics of 79 large-scale projects (LSPs) undertaken in four different sectors of Canadian industrial activity (energy, communications, transportation and defense) between 1950 and 1990. It goes beyond a cost-benefit analysis to take into account market and quasi-market conditions where the management of risk on technological, economic, political and organizational levels play a determinant role in the technological dynamism of a given project. The study confirms the hypothesis that under certain market conditions in sectors of significant technological content, the high concentration of public demand early in the product cycle acts as a potential catalyst for innovative activity.