, emphasizes knowledge as an economic object and, more generally, the economics of intellectual property rights. This paper argues …

, including ideas and research, from their strategic suppliers. A careful design of procurement policy is crucial to make … potential suppliers generate and sell the most suitable innovation. Moreover, procurement by public agencies and large firms … consider a menu of procurement methods and policies for best procuring new knowledge and innovative products, discussing their …

individual level, examining the relationship between religiosity and a broad set of pro- or anti-innovation attitudes in all five … waves of the World Values Survey (1980 to 2005). We thus relate eleven indicators of individual openness to innovation …, broadly defined (e.g., attitudes toward science and technology, new versus old ideas, change, risk taking, personal agency …

environment that allows ideas to cross firm boundaries enhances the rate of innovation and creates a symbiotic relationship …We describe new ideas as incomplete concepts for which the innovator needs feedback from agents with complementary … skills. Once shared, ideas may be stolen. We compare how different contractual environments support invention and …

Innovative ideas are novel combinations of productive resources potentially addressing an economic need (Schumpeter …, 1926). Even promising ideas can be unprofitable if the proposed combination fails on at least one dimension, e.g., it is … technically unfeasible or does not respond to a genuine customer need. To screen good ideas the entrepreneur needs to hire experts …

The intellectual breakthrough contributed by the new growth theory was the recognition that investments in knowledge … and human capital endogenously generate economic growth through the spillover of knowledge. Endogenous growth theory does … not explain how or why spillovers occur. The missing link is the mechanism converting knowledge into economically relevant …

knowledge. Three long-term outcomes emerge. First, a "Secularization" or "Western-European" regime with declining religiosity …, unimpeded science, a passive Church and high levels of taxes and transfers. Second, a "Theocratic" regime with knowledge … successful Religious-Right alliance with the religious poor and start blocking belief-eroding discoveries and ideas. …

efficiency; provides further insight into why Open Source Software is a successful model of innovation and development in digital …

: rational bubbles and financial frictions. We explain why each of these building blocks is crucial to understand recent events …

are too low. In this environment, changes in investor sentiment or market expectations can give rise to credit bubbles …