Governing Knowledge Commons

Abstract

Abstract Knowledge commons are the subject of enormous recent interest and enthusiasm with respect to policy making about innovation, creative production, and intellectual property. Taking that enthusiasm as its starting point, this book argues that policy making should be based on evidence and on deeper understanding of what makes commons institutions tick. Scholars of the natural environment have developed successful methods for studying commons arrangements systematically and in detail. The book borrows from them and proposes a framework for studying knowledge commons that is adapted to the unique attributes of knowledge and information. It describes the framework in detail and explains how to put it into practice, with contributed chapters that put the framework into context both with respect to commons research in general and with respect to innovation and information policy broadly. The book includes eleven detailed case studies that explore knowledge commons across a wide variety of scientific and cultural domains, including applications in contemporary medical research, astronomy, open source computer software, news reporting, development of military equipment, the origins of aircraft design, user entrepreneurship, and the emerging cultural phenomenon known as roller derby.

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