Podcast Summary: “Why Don’t Restaurants Steal Recipes?”
Podcast: Is Business Broken?
Host: Kurt Nickish (A), Questrom School of Business
Guests:
- Giada DiStefano (B), Professor of Strategy, Bocconi University
- Andy King (C), Professor of Strategy and Innovation, BU Questrom
Date: October 30, 2025
Overview
This episode dives deep into the fascinating world of self-regulation in creative industries, focusing on why restaurants don’t “steal” recipes despite the lack of formal intellectual property (IP) protections. The conversation unpacks the powerful informal norms that shape behavior, encourage innovation, and underpin trust in sectors such as fashion and haute cuisine. It further explores how these unwritten rules are maintained and enforced, drawing parallels to fields like scientific research and considering the impact of digital transformation.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Paradox of Copying in Fashion
- Lack of formal protections: Fashion designs are difficult or impossible to protect via copyright.
- Role of trends and coordination: The industry thrives on coordination, with trends suggesting a collective sense of direction.
- “The very concept of trends suggests that at least to some extent, there is coordination… piracy can kill innovation, but on the other end contributes to selling innovation.” — Giada DiStefano, [01:43]
- The piracy paradox: Copying accelerates trend adoption, paradoxically helping designers remain relevant, but can also degrade the industry (e.g., fast fashion).
- “Copying has become a business model… Shein basically just taking any design that's online… The whole industry has now changed.” — Andy King, [03:50]
2. Recipe Sharing and Norms in Fine Dining
- Surprising openness: Chefs regularly share recipes, resources, and even kitchen staff.
- Three universal norms among chefs:
- Do not copy a recipe exactly.
- Pay homage—cite the source if you adapt a recipe.
- Do not share a recipe with third parties without permission.
- These norms were consistent across countries and culinary traditions.
- “They basically tended to always mention three rules of behavior… these are kind of universal norms.” — Giada DiStefano, [07:23]
- “It was almost as if they were programmed… you’d get the same three and across three countries.” — Andy King, [08:36]
3. Enforcement Mechanisms for Informal Norms
- Challenges: Proving idea ownership is hard in absence of documentation.
- Forms of sanctions:
- Withholding material favors (not lending ingredients, staff, or resources).
- Ending knowledge sharing.
- Negative gossip within the professional community.
- “You run out of napkins one night… the neighboring restaurants will not help you.” — Giada DiStefano, [09:01]
- “Why wouldn’t you just copy or violate these norms?... ‘You never know when you’re gonna need a busboy or a bunch of napkins at the last minute.’” — Andy King, [10:54]
4. Geographic and Community Effects
- Geography strengthens norms: Closer proximity (e.g., “restaurant rows”) enhances monitoring and enforcement.
- “If you are in an area that is densely populated in terms of restaurants, the norms seem to be stronger and seem to hold better.” — Giada DiStefano, [11:39]
- Reputation transcends distance: Information spreads beyond geographic boundaries, affecting professional standing even far away.
- “Gossiping… is going to hold independent of location.” — Giada DiStefano, [11:39]
- Third-party sanctions: Community members indirectly punish violators by withholding collaboration.
5. Digital Transformation of Norms
- Visibility of violations: The internet, social media, and food review platforms make copying more visible, potentially increasing accountability.
- “Consumers play a different role… They can make violations more visible to the entire community.” — Giada DiStefano, [14:54]
- Partial transparency: Chefs sometimes withhold crucial recipe details when sharing recipes publicly.
- “The recipe you get in a book… is not always the real recipe.” — Andy King, [14:02]
6. Applicability to Science and Innovation
- Norms at CERN: At Europe’s physics research center, unwritten rules shape information sharing between competing research experiments:
- In performance-oriented groups, people share less internally and leak more externally.
- In identity-driven groups, sharing is strong inside, restricted outside.
- Organizational design vs. individual incentive: Tension exists between fostering collaboration and risk of undermining innovation.
- “There is a little bit of a trade off here… between the goal of the organization… versus the incentive of the individual.” — Giada DiStefano, [18:58]
7. Potential Downsides and Exclusion
- Informal norms can exclude outsiders: Powerful players may use norms to maintain dominance.
- “That’s always been the fear… raising rivals’ costs… The leaders can do it. They have the capital… And what they're really doing is they're driving out the smaller competitors.” — Andy King, [20:11]
- Effectiveness of self-regulation depends on observation and sanctioning: Where violations are clear and punishments possible, norms thrive; otherwise, they may become hollow.
8. Lessons and Takeaways
- Graduated sanctions are key: Proportionality makes enforcement credible and useful.
- “If you’re going to have sanctions… the sanctions have to be graduated…. You need to withhold the napkins first.” — Andy King, [22:33]
- Community and belonging enhance norm adherence: Closer identification with the group strengthens compliance.
- “When people feel like they are part of a community, they tend to stick to the norms much more.” — Giada DiStefano, [22:45]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “Piracy can kill innovation, but on the other end contributes to selling innovation.”
— Giada DiStefano, [01:43] - “Copying has become a business model… Shein basically just taking any design that's online… The whole industry has now changed.”
— Andy King, [03:50] - “They exchange material favors, but they also exchange recipes and knowledge… This was really puzzling for us to the extreme.”
— Giada DiStefano, [04:52] - “There is this sense of the community that makes really people stick together and adhere to these rules of behavior so much more.”
— Giada DiStefano, [22:45] - “You need to withhold the napkins first… and then maybe the busboys, and then eventually you go to the extreme form. You need graduated sanctions.”
— Andy King, [22:33]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 01:43 — The paradox of piracy in fashion
- 04:52 — Recipe sharing and surprising industry openness among chefs
- 07:23 — The three universal norms in fine dining
- 09:01 — How informal rules are enforced (sanctions)
- 11:39 — Geography, community, and reputation in norm enforcement
- 14:54 — Impact of digital platforms and consumer visibility
- 16:05 — Extension of norms discussion to science (CERN case study)
- 20:11 — Risks of exclusion and abuse of norms
- 22:33 — Importance of graduated sanctions and the power of community
Conclusion
The episode reveals that some of the most innovative, competitive creative industries depend less on official regulation and more on shared informal norms, trust, and a sense of community. These unwritten rules not only facilitate collaboration and creativity but also come with self-enforcing, flexible sanctions that are critical to their effectiveness and integrity. While powerful, such systems have vulnerabilities, especially as industries and technologies evolve.