Understanding the emergence of 'open science' institutions: functionalist economics in historical context
Understanding the emergence of 'open science' institutions: functionalist economics in historical context
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DOI：
10.1093/icc/dth023
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发表时间：
2004-08-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
David, PA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
David, PA
这篇文章揭露了“逻辑起源”方法的局限性，这种方法得到了试图了解过去和现在制度运作的经济学家的青睐。这里采用了一种不同的方法，在历史背景下应用功能主义来解释“开放科学”特有的精神气质和制度的出现。在16世纪末和17世纪初，“开放科学”的思想和实践的出现，代表着在追求“自然的秘密”的过程中，打破了以前占主导地位的保密精神。这是科学革命的一个独特而重要的组织方面，由此形成了一套新的规范、激励措施和组织结构，加强了科学研究人员迅速披露新知识的承诺。为了理解这是如何发生的，有必要研究赞助的经济学，以及不对称信息和声誉在早期现代科学活动重组中的作用。在揭示新知识方面的“合作竞争”的兴起，被视为对文艺复兴时期宫廷对艺术和科学的赞助提出的高度不对称信息问题的功能性反应；原有的信息不对称因数学的重要性增加以及在各种实际应用环境中更多地依赖复杂的数学技术而加剧。对文艺复兴晚期欧洲宫廷赞助制度的分析表明，政治权威支离破碎的封建遗产在创造“共同代理契约替代”的条件方面具有重要意义。这些条件被证明有利于为西欧新成立的科学界的代理人-客户成员提供更有利的合同条款(特别是在自主权和财政支持方面)。可以从当代科学和技术政策辩论中吸取一些教训，在这些辩论中，追求知识的开放科学模式似乎往往被视为科学研究技术力量的有力伴生物--而它是西欧历史上脆弱的文化遗产，现代科学作为长期经济增长的驱动力占据主导地位。
This essay exposes the limitations of the 'logical origins' approach that has found favour among economists who seek to understand the workings of institutions in the past and present. A different approach is pursued here, applying functionalism in historical context to explain the emergence of the characteristic ethos and institutions of 'open science'. The emergence during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries of the idea and practice of 'open science' represented a break from the previously dominant ethos of secrecy in the pursuit of 'Nature's secrets'. It was a distinctive and vital organizational aspect of the scientific revolution, from which crystallized a new set of norms, incentives and organizational structures that reinforced scientific researchers' commitments to rapid disclosure of new knowledge. To understand how this came about, it is necessary to examine the economics of patronage and the roles of asymmetric information and reputation in the early modern reorganization of scientific activities. The rise of 'cooperative rivalries' in the revelation of new knowledge is seen as a functional response to heightened asymmetric information problems posed for the Renaissance system of court patronage of the arts and sciences; pre-existing informational asymmetries had been exacerbated by increased importance of mathematics and the greater reliance upon sophisticated mathematical techniques in a variety of practical contexts of application. Analysis of the court patronage system of late Renaissance Europe, within which the new natural philosophers found their support, points to the significance of the feudal legacy of fragmented political authority in creating conditions of 'common agency contracting in substitutes'. These conditions are shown to have been conducive to more favorable contract terms (especially with regard to autonomy and financial support) for the agent-client members of western Europe's nascent scientific communities. Some lessons may be drawn for contemporary science and technology policy debates, in which the open science mode of pursuing knowledge often seems to be viewed a robust concomitant of the power of scientific research techniques-whereas it is a fragile cultural legacy of western Europe's history upon which rests the ascendancy of modern science as a driver of long-term economic growth.