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Property Rights and Institutions Basically, for technological change to be effective and sustainable, the authorities must relinquish their control over the innovative process and decentralize it. This creates two important, though on their own insufficient, conditions for technological innovation and change. First, decentralization is important because it means that numerous independent units carry out experimentation. While this sort of situation can result in a duplication of work, it ultimately minimizes the probability of missed technological opportunities. Technological innovation is not only an uncertain process, but is filled with varying opinions on how to get the job done. There is always more than one way to skin a cat, but ultimately, there is only one way that is most efficient. A decentralized system generates a wider variety of technological departures, less potential bottlenecks in the creative process, and a simple way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Secondly, decentralization is important because it offers the successful innovator a chance to enrich themselves. Beyond the basic everyday usefulness of new technology, innovators need a way to seriously cash in on their inventions. A system lacking in monetary incentive discourages innovators from investing the time and effort in future projects. In the past, patents, monopolies, grants, pensions, prizes, and medals provided innovators with the rewards necessary for maintaining a high level of inventive activity. However, the patent system did not emerge in Western Europe until the 15th century and was not fully entrenched until the 18th century. A patent system, while important for the creative process, probably wasn't completely necessary. After all, many inventors were quick enough to capture a large share of a "market" before they in turn were imitated. Also, some inventors engaged in their trade for the sheer sake of fame. Ultimately, however, societies that have some sort of reward for the creative process are likely to experience more technological innovation. Like many of the variables discussed in this article, the notion of property rights and institutions are totally ignored in God Games. More than likely, this originates from the fact that many titles view a population as a homogenous whole (much like one single organism) where the individual counts for little. In reality, including property rights and institutions into the overall in-game scheme of technological development and innovation wouldn't be all that difficult. As with science and technology, the player could encourage the development of numerous institutions (universities, etc.) where the innovative process could be carried out. Each of the institutions could be separately influenced by the player to increase innovation or steer it in different directions. This would effectively decentralize the process and result in an increase in the pace of innovation as well as the possibility of more developments that was previously possible. The more institutions a player develops, the faster their civilization will advance technologically. Further, the player could develop institutions that encourage technological innovation by giving out monetary rewards. Building a Patent Office, for example, would increase a society's overall level of technological innovation. ________________________________________________________ |
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