Are Digital Knowledge Commons Real Commons?

Nicolas Jullien () and Karine Roudaut ()
Additional contact information
Nicolas Jullien: MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet - UR - Université de Rennes - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - Groupe ENSAE-ENSAI - Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique - UBO EPE - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], LEGO - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - UBO EPE - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IBSHS - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UBO EPE - Université de Brest - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], IMT Atlantique - DI2S - Département Interdisciplinaire de Sciences Sociales - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]
Karine Roudaut: LABERS - Laboratoire d'Études et de Recherche en Sociologie - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - UBO EPE - Université de Brest - IBSHS - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UBO EPE - Université de Brest, UBO EPE - Université de Brest

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This article examines whether collective and voluntary practices of online knowledge production, such as Wikipedia and free/open-source software (FOSS) projects, can genuinely be considered commons in Elinor Ostrom's sense. It argues that it is contributions, rather than access to knowledge, that function as the regulated, subtractive resource, in the projects developed and managed by a collective. In these projects, which succeeded in attracting contributors, contributors compete for publication spaces and peer attention, creating the need for governance systems analogous to those in traditional commons. It shows that digital knowledge projects exhibit structural parallels with physical commons, such as hierarchical bundles of rights, differentiation between users and contributors (who consume the subtractive resource), and policymakers, as well as the centrality of monitoring and rule-making to sustain cooperation. Digital infrastructures (e.g. knowledge artifact modularity, algorithmic tools, and platform architectures) facilitate large-scale participation while enabling scalable monitoring and nested governance structures. These technologies also facilitate community formation, where membership is achieved through sustained contribution and recognition rather than pre-defined boundaries.The article concludes that not all open or collaborative digital projects qualify as commons; only those in which a community collectively governs access to the subtractive resource do so. It also raises open research questions concerning sanctions, conflict resolution, multi-layered governance and the evolving relationship between digital commons, institutional frameworks and their socio-technical environments.

Keywords: community; governance; digital; knowledge economics; commons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-inv and nep-ppm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05743297v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in International Journal of the Commons, 2026, 20 (1), pp.468 - 483. ⟨10.5334/ijc.1691⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05743297v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05743297

DOI: 10.5334/ijc.1691

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().