Open source software and economic growth: A classical division of labor perspective
✍ Scribed by Giampaolo Garzarelli; Yasmina Reem Limam; Bjørn Thomassen
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis Group
- Year
- 2008
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 286 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0268-1102
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The article turns to classical economic insights on the division of labor and to institutional reasoning to identify some costs and benefits of open source software (OSS) and proprietary software production. It suggests that, thanks to its licenses, OSS favors market expansion more than proprietary software does by tapping into spontaneous work input. The spontaneous tapping leads to a division of labor that exhibits what the article calls redundant economies. By generating a circle of knowledge growth, reuse, and sharing, redundant economies lead to increasing returns, which are crucial for economic growth.