Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm

Stephen M. Maurer and Suzanne Scotchmer

No 12148, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Open source methods for creating software rely on developers who voluntarily reveal code in the expectation that other developers will reciprocate. Open source incentives are distinct from earlier uses of intellectual property, leading to different types of inefficiencies and different biases in R&D investment. Open source style of software development remedies a defect of intellectual property protection, namely, that it does not generally require or encourage disclosure of source code. We review a considerable body of survey evidence and theory that seeks to explain why developers participate in open source collaborations instead of keeping their code proprietary, and evaluates the extent to which open source may improve welfare compared to proprietary development.

JEL-codes: K L (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino and nep-law
Note: PR LE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (37)

Published as Hendershott, Terrence (ed.) Economics and Information Systems, Volume 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2006.

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