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arXiv · 1903.01861

Externalities in Knowledge Production: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Marit Hinnosaar·Toomas Hinnosaar·Michael Kummer·Olga Slivko
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Abstract

Are there positive or negative externalities in knowledge production? Do current contributions to knowledge production increase or decrease the future growth of knowledge? We use a randomized field experiment, which added relevant content to some pages in Wikipedia while leaving similar pages unchanged. We find that the addition of content has a negligible impact on the subsequent long-run growth of content. Our results have implications for information seeding and incentivizing contributions, implying that additional content does not generate sizable externalities by inspiring nor discouraging future contributions.

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Marit Hinnosaar, Toomas Hinnosaar, Michael Kummer, Olga Slivko. 2019-03-02. Externalities in Knowledge Production: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-021-09730-x

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