Open Source Software and Economic Growth: A Classical Division of Labor Perspective

Garzarelli, Giampaolo and Limam, Yasmina Reem and Thomassen, Bjørn (2007): Open Source Software and Economic Growth: A Classical Division of Labor Perspective.

Abstract

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.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
• Language: English
• Keywords: Division of Labor; Extent of the Market; Increasing Returns; Institutions; Knowledge; Open Source Software; Redundant Economies
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital; D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D20 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes; L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior > L23 - Organization of Production; L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L17 - Open Source Products and Markets

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