#17 – Eric von Hippel: Freeing Innovation

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Scaling Theory

Thibault Schrepel

23 episodes

1 week ago

Scaling Theory is a podcast dedicated to the power laws behind the growth of companies, technologies, legal and living systems. The host, Dr. Thibault Schrepel, has a PhD in antitrust law and looks at the regulation of digital ecosystems through the lens of complexity theory. The podcast is hosted by the Network Law Review. It features scholarly discussions with select guests and deep dives into the academic literature.

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#17 – Eric von Hippel: Freeing Innovation

Scaling Theory

36 minutes 21 seconds

7 months ago

#17 – Eric von Hippel: Freeing Innovation

My guest today is Eric von Hippel, Professor of Technological Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Eric is the author of numerous academic articles and books, including Free Innovation, Democratizing Innovation, and The Sources of Innovation, all published by MIT Press and available for free. Eric has accumulated over 90,000 citations on Google Scholar and has received many awards, including the Schumpeter School Prize (2017)—a particularly interesting recognition given his work on non-Schumpeterian innovation.

In our conversation, Eric and I explore the role of free innovation in today’s economy. Eric highlights some of his favorite examples of free innovation and discusses how, despite being developed at personal cost, it is scaling at an impressive rate. We explore the mechanisms that best enable this scaling—whether through recognition, institutional support, IP protections, or alternative incentives. By the end of this talk, you will understand what free innovation is, how it develops, and how it interacts with producer innovation.

You can follow me on X (@⁠ProfSchrepel⁠) and BlueSky (@⁠ProfSchrepel⁠) to receive regular updates.

References:

Sources of Innovation (1988) https://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www-old/books/sources/SofI.pdf

Democratizing Innovation (2005) https://direct.mit.edu/books/book-pdf/2425023/book_9780262285636.pdf

Free Innovation (2016) https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/26044/1004041.pdf