Can open source projects succeed when the producers are not users? Lessons from the data processing field

Nicolas Jullien and Karine Roudaut ()
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Karine Roudaut: LUSSI - Département Logique des Usages, Sciences sociales et Sciences de l'Information - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - Télécom Bretagne - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet - UR - Université de Rennes - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - UBO - Université de Brest - Télécom Bretagne - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2

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Abstract: Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) proposes an original way to solve the incentive dilemma for the production of information goods, based on von ippel's user-as-innovator principle (1988): as users benefit from innovation, they have incentive to produce it, and as they can expect cumulative innovation on their own proposition, they have incentive to share it. But what is the incentive for producers when they are not users? We discuss this question via a quantitative study of FLOSS projects in "algorithm-based industries". We find that in that case producers hardly participate in such projects.

Keywords: Knowledge economics; Sociology; Open source; Science; Standardization; JEL: O31; O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-ppm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00737173v1
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Published in Management international = International management = Gestión internacional, 2012, 16, pp.113-127

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Working Paper: Can Open Source projects succeed when the producers are not the users ? Lessons from the data processing field (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00737173

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