Ideas for rent: an overview of markets for technology

This article surveys some of the recent literature on technology markets, and summarizes its main issues and insights. We structure our analysis in three parts: the supply and demand of technology; the factors that condition the formation and growth of technology markets; industry structure and dynamic issues. In addition, we summarize some of the studies that have tried to document the size and growth of these markets. We find that the literature has focused mainly on the supply of technology, but several other aspects of these markets remain under-studied, including the demand for external technology, the role of uncertainty in technology markets, and the dynamic interaction between industry structure and the market for technology. Understanding these will illuminate whether markets for technology will continue to grow or remained confined to pockets of the economy.