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The Simple Economics of Open Source

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Author Info
Josh Lerner
Jean Triole

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Abstract

There has been a recent surge of interest in open source software development, which involves developers at many different locations and organizations sharing code to develop and refine programs. To an economist, the behavior of individual programmers and commercial companies engaged in open source projects is initially startling. This paper makes a preliminary exploration of the economics of open source software. We highlight the extent to which labor economics, especially the literature on career concerns,' can explain many of these projects' features. Aspects of the future of open source development process, however, remain somewhat difficult to predict with off-the-shelf' economic models.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7600.

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Date of creation: Mar 2000
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7600

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Hermalin, Benjamin E, 1998. "Toward an Economic Theory of Leadership: Leading by Example," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1188-1206, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 66(1), pages 169-82, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bengt Holmstrom, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," NBER Working Papers 6875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Markus Pasche & Sebastian von Engelhardt, 2004. "Volkswirtschaftliche Aspekte der Open-Source-Softwareentwicklung," Jenaer Schriften zur Wirtschaftswissenschaft 18/2004, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
  2. Arjo Klamer & Hendrik P. van Dalen, 2001. "Attention and the Art of Scientific Publishing," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 01-022/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Deng, Feng, 2008. "What Is “Open”? An Economic Analysis of Open Institutions," MPRA Paper 8888, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Xavier Lecocq & Benoît Demil, 2005. "Les effets de l’introduction d’un système ouvert sur la structure d’un secteur : le cas de l’industrie américaine du jeu de rôle," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, Editions Economica, vol. 8(3), pages 105-123, September. [Downloadable!]
  5. Alessandro Rossi & Alessandro Narduzzo, 2003. "Modular design and the development of complex artifact lesson fron free open source software," Quaderni DISA 080, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 29 Sep 2003. [Downloadable!]
  6. Juan Mateos Garcia & W. Edward Steinmueller, 2003. "The Open Source Way of Working: a New Paradigm for the Division of Labour in Software Development?," SPRU Electronic Working Paper Series 92, University of Sussex, SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
  7. Alessandro Narduzzo & Alessandro Rossi, 2003. "Modular Design and the Development of Complex Artifacts: Lessons from Free/Open Source Software," ROCK Working Papers 021, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 12 Jun 2008. [Downloadable!]
  8. Giovanni Baiocchi, 2007. "Reproducible research in computational economics: guidelines, integrated approaches, and open source software," Computational Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 19-40, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Paola Giuri & Gaia Rocchetti & Salvatore Torrisi, 2002. "Open Source Software: From Open Science to New Marketing Models," LEM Papers Series 2002/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  10. Frank A.G. den Butter & Stefan P.T. Groot & Faroek Lazrak, 2007. "The Transaction Costs Perspective on Standards as a Source of Trade and Productivity Growth," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-090/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  11. Alexandre Gaudeul, 2004. "The LaTeX project: A case study of open-source software," Industrial Organization 0409009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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