Circular Economy Supply Chainshighlights the need for cross-industry flows and the need for different actors in circular value cycles. This book intends to move beyond a buyer-supplier view, ...embracing a holistic network or ecosystem view, to consider a cross-industry system perspective.
A leading innovation scholar explains the growing phenomenon and impact of free innovation, in which innovations developed by consumers and given away “for free.”
In this book, Eric von Hippel, ...author of the influential Democratizing Innovation, integrates new theory and research findings into the framework of a “free innovation paradigm.” Free innovation, as he defines it, involves innovations developed by consumers who are self-rewarded for their efforts, and who give their designs away “for free.” It is an inherently simple grassroots innovation process, unencumbered by compensated transactions and intellectual property rights.
Free innovation is already widespread in national economies and is steadily increasing in both scale and scope. Today, tens of millions of consumers are collectively spending tens of billions of dollars annually on innovation development. However, because free innovations are developed during consumers' unpaid, discretionary time and are given away rather than sold, their collective impact and value have until very recently been hidden from view. This has caused researchers, governments, and firms to focus too much on the Schumpeterian idea of innovation as a producer-dominated activity.
Free innovation has both advantages and drawbacks. Because free innovators are self-rewarded by such factors as personal utility, learning, and fun, they often pioneer new areas before producers see commercial potential. At the same time, because they give away their innovations, free innovators generally have very little incentive to invest in diffusing what they create, which reduces the social value of their efforts.
The best solution, von Hippel and his colleagues argue, is a division of labor between free innovators and producers, enabling each to do what they do best. The result will be both increased producer profits and increased social welfare—a gain for all.
Developing Digital Marketing: Relationship Perspectivesprovides a holistic perspective about the role of digital marketing in the global economy, helping readers to understand the shift from ...traditional marketing to more novel and innovative forms.
Multidimensional Strategic Outlook on Global Competitive Energy Economics and Financeanalyses current trends in energy production and use, with a focus on technological developments that contribute ...to the reduction of price in energy production and renewable energy sources that provide continuity in energy production.
Greenwashing: Foundations and Emerging Research on Corporate Sustainability and Deceptive Communicationexamines the understanding of greenwashing, provides a systematic review of available literature ...review, and reflects on theoretical approaches and research trends.
The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography is the most comprehensive and significant statement about the value and potential of economic geography in 2017. Sixty-six leading economists and ...geographers from around the world investigate the rival theories and perspectives that have sustained the development of economic geography. The Handbook also focuses on linkages, including those between inequality, instability, and sustainability in the global economy; economic behaviour, strategies, and practices; mobility and creativity; resources and development; and distribution and consumption. The Handbook is concerned with theories and perspectives that are relevant to economic geography today. The book is split into eight parts, providing comprehensive coverage of the following themes: Grounded in Place; Conceptual Foundations; Innovation; The Firm; Work; Finance; Resources and the Environment; and Strategies for Development
