Knowledge sharing among inventors: Some historical perspectives

Arbeitspapier

This chapter documents instances from past centuries where inventors freely shared knowledge of their innovations with other inventors. It is widely believed that such knowledge sharing is a recent development, as in Open Source Software. Our survey shows, instead, that innovators have long practiced collective invention at times, including in such key technologies as steam engines, iron, steel, and textiles. Generally, innovator behavior was substantially richer than the heroic portrayal often found in textbooks and museums. Knowledge sharing sometimes coexisted with patenting, at other times, not, suggesting the importance of policy that accommodates knowledge sharing to foster cumulative innovation.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: LEM Working Paper Series ; No. 2011/21

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: 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
• Thema: technological change ; knowledge sharing ; collective invention ; patents

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Bessen, James ; Nuvolari, Alessandro
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
• (wo): Pisa
• (wann): 2011

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89342
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ