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Open software: knowledge openess and cooperation in cyberspace (2004)
BibTeX
@MISC{Foray04opensoftware:,
author = {Dominique Foray and Sylvie Thoron and Jean-benoît Zimmermann},
title = {Open software: knowledge openess and cooperation in cyberspace},
year = {2004}
}
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Abstract
This paper deals with open software as an innovation system based on knowledge accessibility. It addresses four issues: welfare implica-tions, incentives, the legal framework and the coalitions involved. For economists, knowledge accessibility is viewed as a mechanism which generates e ¢ cient outcomes. The welfare implications are clear: no monopoly distorsion; spillovers do not reduce but rather increase innovators incentives. These welfare implications are magni ed in the case of open source because software bene ts from unlimited increas-ing returns in terms of production as well as in terms of di¤usion. The basic problem when discussing incentives is to understand why voluntary spillovers occur at all. Economists will try to answer by exploring those mechanisms which allow agents to obtain a private bene t by freely revealing their innovative work. Actually, for any system promoting knowledge openness, incentives are necessary to 1 motivate people to reveal their knowledge freely to others and to make it more pro table to be an innovator than a free-rider. The legal framework to protect open source software is based on the principle of making the disclosure of the source-code of the programs concerned and any further improvement compulsory. This appears to be a very e ¢ cient way to maintaining the good properties of the system. The production of software then has to be analysed as the pro-duction of a public good. It is based on individual contributions and generates a use value the bene t from which does not depend on the contribution. By contributing to open source, developers are rewarded in terms of learning and in terms of reputation. But today, the trade-o ¤ is not simply between contributing or not, but in the allocation of resources between business and open source software development. This implies a new level of incentives that can be of private ( rms) or public, origin (technological policy). 1
Keyphrases
open software knowledge openess knowledge accessibility legal framework welfare implication private bene innovative work improvement compulsory open source welfare implica-tions cient way unlimited increas-ing return new level use value motivate people open source software development innovation system individual contribution knowledge openness pro table increase innovator incentive monopoly distorsion technological policy magni ed basic problem open source software good property cient outcome di usion voluntary spillover public good software bene t
