Open source software and the economics of organization

Abstract

It is often remarked that innovation in computer technology is profoundly affecting the organization of production and of consumption of contemporary society. For instance, consumers are said to be increasingly participant in the production process, leading to an increase in the modular nature of most products and organizations, and to an increase in the thickness of most markets (e.g. Cox and Alm 1998; Dolan and Meredith 2001).