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

James Bessen and Alessandro Nuvolari

Industrial and Corporate Change, 2019, vol. 28, issue 2, 365-388

Abstract: 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 article 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.

JEL-codes: N70 O33 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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