The Innovation Commons

An innovation commons is an institutional solution to the innovation problem in which knowledge, information and resources are pooled under defined governance rules to enable a particular community access to those inputs into innovation, often in a context of peer production. This paper examines the economics of why and when the commons is an effective institutional solution to the innovation problem. I set out four basic models of the innovation commons: (1) dual-commons; (2) evolution of cooperation; (3) strategic defence; (4) uncertainty of idea type. I suggest how innovation policy might look like were it were to recognise the contribution of the innovation commons