A Microeconomic Approach to the Dynamics of Knowledge Creation
Abstract
The aim of this contribution is to analyze the period of collective research extending from the emergence of the first innovative idea to the moment when a patent can be written and claimed. The authors argue that the period of collective research is characterized by the building of public or semipublic good in order to equip the innovative idea with a “codebook” (shared codes, tests, and “grammar of usage”) and to reveal its economic potential. They emphasize the role of knowing communities as the active units in the dynamic process of invention and discuss some of the consequences in two domains of application: property rights and creative clusters.