Discussion Questions on Partha Dasgupta: Science and Technology as Institutions
Science and Technology as Institutions
- What does it mean for knowledge to be "non-rival"?
- Given that knowledge is "non-rival", what justification could there possibly be for charging people for access to knowledge and its uses?
- If people weren't allowed to charge others for access to knowledge and its uses, would there be any reason to think that society would be putting a properly-large share of our resources into creating and disseminating knowledge?
- Why can contests and the rule of priority be good ways to spur the creation and dissemination of knowledge?
- How well do contests and the rule of priority fit with a private-property market economy?
Partha Dasgupta (2007): Economics: A Very Short Introduction
