Innovation, Imitation and Open Source

Rufus Pollock ()

EERI Research Paper Series from Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels

Abstract: An extensive empirical literature indicates that, even without formal intellectual property rights, innovators enjoy a variety of first-mover advantages and that `imitation' is itself a costly activity. There is also accumulating evidence that an `open' approach to knowledge production can deliver substantial efficiency advantages. This paper introduces a formal framework incorporating all of these factors. We examine the relative performance of an `open' versus a `closed' (proprietary) regime, and explicitly characterise the circumstances in which an open approach, despite its effect on facilitating imitation, results in a higher level of innovation.

Keywords: Innovation; Imitation; Intellectual Property; Openness; Open Source (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L17 L5 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 21 pages
Date: 2008-11-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ict, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-knm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2008_20

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