Social Appropriability of Scientific and Technological Knowledge

The study of social appropriability of scientific and technological knowledge is important in understanding technological innovation. Current definitions of «appropriability» –based on a notion of scientific and technological knowledge as intangible goods– focus on the capacity of an economic agent to appropriate the benefits generated in the process of application of this knowledge. Several sociological, political, economic and the legal approaches also address the theme of «appropriability». The article shows that it is necessary to understand appropriability as a social, polysemic and multidimensional phenomenon.