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  • 2020
  • Article
  • Journal of Law & Innovation

Inconvenient Truths: Interpreting the Origins of the Internet

By: Shane Greenstein
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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 and the Web; History; Analysis; Research and Development; Governance; Information Technology; Policy

Citation

Greenstein, Shane. "Inconvenient Truths: Interpreting the Origins of the Internet." Journal of Law & Innovation 3 (2020): 36–68.

Supplemental Information

Rethinking Innovation Policy: The Role of the State
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About The Author

Shane M. Greenstein

Technology and Operations Management
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