Difusing new technology without dissipating rents: Some historical case studies of knowledge sharing

Arbeitspapier

The diffusion of innovations is supposed to dissipate inventors' rents. Yet in many documented cases, inventors freely shared knowledge with their competitors. Using a model and case studies, this paper explores why sharing did not eliminate inventors' incentives. Each new technology coexisted with an alternative for one or more decades. This allowed inventors to earn rents while sharing knowledge, attaining major productivity gains. The technology diffusion literature suggests that such circumstances are common during the early stages of a new technology.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: LEM Working Paper Series ; No. 2017/28

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: General, International, or Comparative ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes ; Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
• Subject: technological change ; technology diffusion ; knowledge sharing ; collective invention ; patents

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bessen, James ; Nuvolari, Alessandro
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
• (where): Pisa
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/174578
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET