ABSTRACT
In the economics of localised technological knowledge each firm has a heterogeneous and distinct knowledge base, rooted in its own ‘locus’ defined by learning procedures that are specific to the techniques in place and the set of fixed tangible and intangible assets. However, when knowledge exhibits high levels of supermodular complementarity and networking costs are low, firms have an incentive to implement the convergence of their own knowledge and competence to increase knowledge complementarity. Commons of collective knowledge emerge when the active participation of firms pushes the direction of internal research and learning activities towards higher levels of complementarity, with the aim of building a systemic integration. Collective knowledge is characterised not only by imperfect appropriability and access to intellectual property rights that are either shared or often not specified or specifiable but also by the role of the intentional networking effort, participation and contribution of each agent. Collective knowledge is the result of the valorisation of the elements of latent complementarity among the bits of knowledge possessed by each localised agent (Antonelli, 2001).
