Free love, Linux and Leishmaniasis: developing a business model for communitarian innovation

Through a case study analysis of 19th and 21st century communitarian innovation groups, this dissertation develops a business model that promotes innovation without the incentives of monopoly profits provided by patents. Social Utopian communities of the 19th century and Free and Open Source Software development communities share similar contributors' incentives and comparable organizational structures which provides a foundation for a business model that can be transported to other industries, specifically biotechnology. Communitarian innovation groups already exist within the biotechnology sector but have not yet been proven effective or capable of applying the communitarian business model through all stages of research and development. This dissertation provides the business model for communitarian innovation as well as recommendations on how to apply the business model to all stages of biotechnology innovation.