Book Review: Orly Lobel, Talent Wants to Be Free: Why We Should Learn to Love Leaks, Raids, and Free Riding (Yale University Press, 2013), 288 Pp.

Abstract

This book should form an interesting read for a wide audience. It is true that one can easily disagree with some of the author’s theories (this reviewer finds some of the issues raised about company secrecy hard to accept), but the fact is that the typical mentality of control seems to be plain wrong and in need of some serious adjustments. Orly Lobel’s work sends a powerful message to all policy-makers and managers and one that should lead to serious reflections (and, hopefully, changes): after all, talent wants to be free.

Note: © Pedro Malaquias, 2014. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in the Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property, Volume 4, Issue 2 (April 2014), 163-165, 2014.

Keywords: intellectual property, human capital, innovation

JEL Classification: Y3