Introduction: Governing Markets as Knowledge Commons

Abstract

This is an introduction to a forthcoming edited volume on Governing Markets as Knowledge Commons. We develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of the production, reproduction, and transformation of intellectual and legal infrastructures that enable market interactions using the Governing Knowledge Commons research program. A distinctive contribution of this volume is the conceptualization of market-supporting knowledge structures as shared goods (established through co-operation) and contribution goods (established through competition). There are four building blocks around which the edited volume revolves. First, the chapters show that markets are cultural, they depend on various kinds of knowledge some of which are governed as commons. Second, the market-supporting knowledge commons are, unlike physical commons, produced and reproduced by contributions and sharing. Third, these knowledge commons serve as economic inputs in private production processes. Finally, the volume highlights the social and cultural effects of entrepreneurship. Through innovation and slight evasions of existing rules, entrepreneurs often change social conventions and cultural meanings. Building on the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework, the book highlights the entanglement of markets with society and the broader culture of which markets are a part.

Keywords: Shared goods, institutions, conventions, knowledge commons, markets, entrepreneurship, intellectual infrastructures

JEL Classification: D02, O43, K1, L2, N80