Von Hippel, Eric (2017). Free Innovation

Book review ofVon Hippel, Eric (2017). Free Innovation. Cambridge, Mass. and London: MIT Press. Hardcover; Free e-book: https://evhippel.mit.edu/books

Nalebuff, Barry (2022). Split The Pie. A Radical New Way to Negotiate

The book is part of a bundle of tools for teaching the "split the pie" framework to students of negotiation. Nalebuff considers his "split the pie" framework for negotiations as one that is consistent, fair to both sides of a negotiation, and that reflects the equal power of negotiation partners. The other tools, which are assembled on a companion website (https://www.splitthepiebook.com/), include an online course, quizzes, videos, a negotiation bot, and slides for teachers

Book Review: Muller, Jerry Z. (2018). The Tyranny of Metrics

After extensive discussions at several lengthy meetings, and deep deliberations by its elected part‐time officials, the faculty eventually introduced a new mechanism for distributing to departments and professors its rather meager research funds: To each according to his or her publishing performance! Theessential element of the mechanism was a point system for publications of various types ‐ many points for articles in high‐impact journals (don't ask!), and few points for contributions in trade journals. It didn't take long for a faculty member to expose a weakness of the new rules. He published one and the same a paper in a network of syndicated farm journals and, by that rule, collected points for each appearance of that paper. He thereby collected more points ‐ and research funds ‐ than he would have received had he published a paper in the most highly ranked research journal in his field. Eyebrows had been raised at the time. With this episode in my memory, I was intrigued by Muller's book "The tyranny of metrics" of which the publisher claims, "In this timely and powerful book, Jerry Muller uncovers the damage our obsession with metrics is causing—and shows how we can begin to fix the problem." Let’s see how much truth is in this advertising

Norberg, Johan (2016). Progress. Ten reasons to look forward to the future

Book review of Norberg, Johan (2016). Progress. Ten reasons to look forward to the future. London: Oneworld Publications. Hardcove

Ridley, M. (2020). How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

Book review of the bookRidley, M. (2020). How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. ISBN 978-0062916594

The Product of Science

The relationships between agricultural science, invention, production and consumption are conventionally considered in a hierarchical model with consumption at the basis and science at the pinnacle of the hierarchy. -Two important shortcomings of that model as a basis for organising and manag\ng agricultural research are identified. First, the model does not specify how the direction and intensity of research Is guided in the absence of markets for the outputs from research. Second, the model does not identify the flows of specific information from the consumption and agricultural production sphere to the research sphere where such information is crucial for the successful conduct of applied agricultural research, An alternative conceptual framework for agricultural research is explored that considers research as a problem-solving activity which exploits general scientific knowledge as well as specific practical knowledge. Implications of a problem solving perspective for the organisation and management of agricultural research are discussed

Munger, Michael C. (2018). Tomorrow 3.0. Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy

In the mid-1950s Erich Geiersberger, a journalist of the Bavarian rural radio, pioneered machinery rings. He had noticed that many family farms in Germany had over-invested in farm machinery compared to farms of similar size in France and in the Netherlands. This, Geiersberger worried, would threaten their competitiveness in the coming European Economic Community. Geiersberger suggested 'machine rings' as a solution to this predicament.Michael Munger, a professor of economics at Duke University in Durham, NC, USA, is probably totally unaware of machinery rings; they are certainly not mentioned in his book. Like Geiersberger, Munger is concerned with institutions that improve the utilization of durable goods. Yet, whereas Geiersberger acted as an organization designer and builder, Munger is a keen economic observer of changes in the organization of markets, changes which he expects to become revolutionary

Marketing Wine on the Web

E-commerce is penetrating agriculture, particularly for selling products directly to consumers. The wine industry is a case in point. The industry has long-term experience in direct marketing. Many wineries welcome patrons at their premises for wine tasting and for selling wine to them. Moreover, where the practice is allowed, shipping wine directly to consumers without the assistance of trade intermediaries is a significant sales channel. E-commerce was adopted early in the wine industries of wired high-income countries and the wine industry provides an opportunity for studying the adoption, use, and impact of e-commerce. Moreover, because e-commerce has not spread evenly through all branches of agriculture, lessons learned from the wine industry may provide useful insights for entrepreneurs and policy makers concerned with sections of agriculture or the food industry where e-commerce adoption lags behind. The specific objectives of the dissertation research project which we report here therefore were: (1) to assess the extent of e-commerce diffusion in the wine industries of Australia, California, Germany; (2) to identify e-commerce practices used by wineries for marketing wine; (3) to explain differences in wineries' e-commerce practices, and (4) to derive insights and implications for sections of agriculture that lag behind in ecommerce adoption.Marketing,

Information and Communication Technology and the Global Flow of Wine: A Gravity Model of ICT in Wine Trade

International Relations/Trade,