Bush House South East Wing 1.01

The Industrial Revolution can be characterised as an acceleration in rates of annual economic growth of income per capita from essentially zero up to the mid 17th century to around 1.8 per cent by the 20th century. It cannot readily be explained if knowledge is treated as a private or as a public good. We have previously shown that science can be considered as a novel good, namely a contribution good, which is a non-depletable good jointly available to those who have contributed to its creation.