Sometimes obvious ideas work. If you want to encourage more innovation, give people better access to knowledge: libraries.
This is an audio read through of the (initial version of the) article Free Knowledge and Innovation, published on New Things Under the Sun.
Articles mentioned:
Berkes, Enrico, and Peter Nencka. 2020. Knowledge Access: The Effects of Carnegie Libraries on Innovation. Working Paper.
Furman, Jeffrey L., Markus Nagler, and Martin Watzinger. 2018. Disclosure and Subsequent Innovation: Evidence from the Patent Depository Library Program. NBER Working Paper No 24660
Thompson, Neil C., and Douglas Hanley. 2020. Science is Shaped by Wikipedia: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial. MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 5238-17