Open Source Software and Economic Growth: A Classical Division of Labor Perspective

Giampaolo Garzarelli, Yasmina Reem Limam and Bjørn Thomassen

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The article turns to classical economic insights on the division of labor and to institutional reasoning to identify some costs and benefits of Open Source Software (OSS) and proprietary software production. It suggests that, thanks to its licenses, OSS favors market expansion more than proprietary software does by tapping into spontaneous work input. The spontaneous tapping leads to a division of labor that exhibits what the article calls redundant economies. By generating a circle of knowledge growth, reuse, and sharing, redundant economies lead to increasing returns, which are crucial for economic growth.

Keywords: Division of Labor; Extent of the Market; Increasing Returns; Institutions; Knowledge; Open Source Software; Redundant Economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D20 L17 L23 O33 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-06-22
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-knm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:3849

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