Eric von Hippel
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035217
- eISBN:
- 9780262335461
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035217.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
This chapter identifies an important inbuilt difference between the two paradigms with respect to innovation diffusion. The difference springs from the fact that, unlike producers, free innovators do ...
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This chapter identifies an important inbuilt difference between the two paradigms with respect to innovation diffusion. The difference springs from the fact that, unlike producers, free innovators do not protect their innovations from free adoption, and they do not sell them. As a result, benefits that free-riding adopters may gain are not systematically shared with free innovators—there is no market link between these parties. This chapter thus presents evidence for the systematic shortfall in free innovators' incentives to invest in the diffusion of free innovations, and then argues that it is caused by the absence of a market link between free innovators and free-riding adopters. The chapter then concludes with suggested ways for addressing this situation.Less
This chapter identifies an important inbuilt difference between the two paradigms with respect to innovation diffusion. The difference springs from the fact that, unlike producers, free innovators do not protect their innovations from free adoption, and they do not sell them. As a result, benefits that free-riding adopters may gain are not systematically shared with free innovators—there is no market link between these parties. This chapter thus presents evidence for the systematic shortfall in free innovators' incentives to invest in the diffusion of free innovations, and then argues that it is caused by the absence of a market link between free innovators and free-riding adopters. The chapter then concludes with suggested ways for addressing this situation.
