Community Enterprises - An Institutional Innovation

Abstract

Management research has long focused on the theory of the firm, studying for-profit organizations that produce privately owned resources based on central authority and within well-defined boundaries. In recent times, a new kind of enterprise has emerged that we call Community Enterprises. They are barrier free and extend beyond the reach of strong, personal relationships and are characterized by the production of appropriation-free resources and the absence of boundaries. Wikipedia is the most successful example of such a Community Enterprise. Assumptions and principles underneath related fields such as organizational theory, innovation economics, and industrial organization should therefore be critically examined.

Keywords: theory of the firm, organization theory, for-profit firms, community enterprise, Wikipedia

JEL Classification: D210, D230, J000