B. Zorina Khan is Professor of Economics at Bowdoin College and National Bureau of Economic Research
"""No nation has achieved economic prosperity without robust technological progress. But what propels innovation? This erudite book makes a powerful case that state administered solutions and elite designs do not work, and the market system underpinned by open access for a broad cross-section of society is the key to technological flourishing. Not everybody will agree with this assessment, but there is more than enough here to take Zorina Khan's rich arguments and considerable historical evidence seriously.""-Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ""Zorina Khan reviews the history of intellectual property and innovation, and highlights that much of what we think we know about these areas is confused, and in many cases, outright wrong. Full of fascinating facts and anecdotes, this book is sure to convey valuable insights to everyone who opens the volume.""-Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor, Harvard Business School ""This deeply researched book underscores the importance of bringing serious study of history to bear on current policy issues.""-Naomi Lamoreaux, Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics and History, Yale ""Inventing Ideas by Zorina Khan is a significant intellectual contribution to our understanding of both the institutions and incentives for innovation and technological progress. Khan artfully weaves a narrative, provides conceptual clarity, and backs up her propositions with empirical insights to help us understand why certain countries successfully built and executed innovation machines that enabled progress and others did not. A must-read for scholars of innovation and institutional development.""-Karim R. Lakhani, Charles E. Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School"