The Simple Economics of Open Source

Josh Lerner and Jean Triole

No 7600, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: L22 L31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ind, nep-ino, nep-mic and nep-tid
Note: PR
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

Published as "Some Simple Economics of Open Source," Journal of Industrial Economics, 52 (June 2002) 197-234.

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