The diffusion of knowledge plays an important role in both the creation and distribution of wealth. Attempting to construct a competitive advantage, managers of firms often seek to spread valuable knowledge widely across subunits of the organization, while simultaneously preventing its diffusion...

This paper develops a theory of invention by drawing on complex adaptive systems theory. We see invention as a process of recombinant search over technology landscapes. This framing suggests that inventors might face a "complexity catastrophe" when they attempt to combine highly interdependent...