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

James Bessen, Alessandro Nuvolari

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.

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Year of publication:	[2017] ; This version: November, 2017
Authors:	Bessen, James ; Nuvolari, Alessandro
Publisher:	Pisa, Italy : LEM, Laboratory of Economics and Management, Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Subject:	technological change \| technology diffusion \| knowledge sharing \| collective invention \| patents \| Wissenstransfer \| Knowledge transfer \| Technischer Fortschritt \| Technological change \| Patent \| Innovationsdiffusion \| Innovation diffusion \| Theorie \| Theory \| Erfindung \| Invention \| Wissensmanagement \| Knowledge management \| Technologietransfer \| Technology transfer