Publications
Publications
- 2020
- Journal of Law & Innovation
Inconvenient Truths: Interpreting the Origins of the Internet
By: Shane Greenstein
Abstract
A conventional economic narrative provides intellectual underpinnings for governments to subsidize research and development ("R&D") that coordinates risky research to benefit many in society. This essay compares this narrative with the origins and invention of the internet. Are the historical facts consistent with the conventional economic narrative? Does the conventional economic narrative offer a complete explanation for why government subsidized R&D related to the internet produced high economic value? The essay shows why that narrative is consistent with historical experience, and incomplete in crucial respects. To remedy incompleteness, an analyst needs to appreciate the role of lead-users and good governance of technology transfer. Accounting for such factors, the essay develops a number of implications for technology policy.
Keywords
Lead Users; Technology Transfer; Internet; History; Analysis; Research And Development; Governance; Technology; Policy
Citation
Greenstein, Shane. "Inconvenient Truths: Interpreting the Origins of the Internet." Journal of Law & Innovation 3 (2020): 36–68.
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