When designated collectives invention (English Collective Invention) within the range of the economic science a model for innovation, with which inventors divide their innovations openly with one another. The term "„Collective Invention "“comes from Robert all Robert C. all (1983): Collective invention. In: Journal OF Economic Behavior and Organization 4, number 1, P. 1-24 a well-known example of collective invention is the development of open SOURCE software. Further examples leave themselves among other things for parts of the mining industry at the beginning 19. Century, Alessandro Nuvolari (2001): Collective Invention during the British Industrial revolution: The Case OF the Cornish Pumping engine. In: Cambridge journal OF Economics 28, number 3, P. 347-363 (pdf) the development of blast furnaces in the second half 19. Century and the development of flat screens between 1969 and 1989Jennifer Spencer (2003): Firms' Knowledge sharing Strategies into the global innovation system: Empirical Evidence from the global Flat panel display. In: Strategic management journal, 24, P. 217-233 indicate.

Since dividing knowledge represents a social dilemma, by which free riders, those profit, are favoured from knowledge the everything without own knowledge to carry. The model of the collective invention can remain durable existing therefore only under certain conditions; as soon as the participants in the competition try increasingly to obtain by secrecy advantages the process of the collective invention is stopped.

Collective invention is closely related to the concept the open innovation, with which organizations from the outside open their research and development for contributions.

General factors

After Osterloh et al. Lit gives it to three factors, which weaken that social dilemma and make so collective invention possible:

1. The innovation is so radical that without the exchange of knowledge the various Potenziale can be only heavily opened. This is particularly with new technology fields the case.
2. There are still no products, so that dividing knowledge does not cost market shares. Instead sometimes co-operation is even necessary, in order to create at all the basis for future products, for example with the establishment of common standards.
3. Selective incentives, which provide the involved one for dividing knowledge own advantages, exist for example to Reputation or additional profits within other ranges.

The social contribution dilemma can be reduced by low costs of contributing compared with the selective incentives in its meaning. However there is a motivation obstacle also with low participation costs and/or high selective incentives if with the involved ones the feeling develops to be only used. For the overcoming of this social dilemma rules, which outlaw or otherwise prevent unwanted behavior, help second order.

Collective invention within the range open SOURCE

While software to end of the 1970er was developed and divided as collective invention, this process of the innovation was obstructed by the commercialization beginning more and more. Richard Stallman created a possibility with the Copyleft principle and the GNU general Public License of guaranteeing the disclosure of software for developments which are based on own work. In the meantime with open SOURCE became generally accepted this kind of the collective invention within wide ranges of the soft being development. The investigation of the motivation of open SOURCE developers, by whom makes sufficient selective incentives available become, is the subject of the open SOURCE research. To the overcoming of the social dilemma of the feeling of the utilization rules of co-operation contribute like for example the hacker ethics and Copyleft licenses.

The process of the collective invention within the range open SOURCE can be transferred to large parts to the common production by free contents, as is practiced it for example in Wikipedia and to the emergence to knowledge common land leads.

Literature

• Margit Osterloh, Sandra Rotha, Roger (2006): "” Collective Invention "“is a new innovation . In: Olga Drousou et al. (Hrsg.): The marvelous world of the knowledge wissensvermehrung. Heise, ISBN 3-936931-38-0
• Peter B. Meyer (2003): Episodes OF Collective Invention. DRUID Working PAPER 01-05, ISBN 87-7873-104-6 (pdf)

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Articles in category "Collective invention"

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Related Websites

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• Collective Invention during the British Industrial Revolution: The ...
  Downloadable ! Author(s): Alessandro Nuvolari. 2001 Abstract: In this paper, we argue that together with individual inventors and firms, what Robert Allen ...


• Episodes of Collective Invention
  been called collective invention. This paper documents two episodes of ... examples of collective invention; relevant papers are at the web site ...


• Episodes of Collective Invention
  Downloadable ! Author(s): Peter B. Meyer. 2003 Abstract: The process of developing technology through open discussion has been called collective invention.