Diffusing new technology without dissipating rents: some historical case studies of knowledge sharing
研究了发明者为何愿意与竞争对手共享知识而不失去经济激励，通过模型和案例发现新技术与旧技术长期共存，使发明者既能分享知识又能获得租金，实现生产力提升。
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.