The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond

43 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2004 Last revised: 10 Dec 2022

See all articles by Jean Tirole

Jean Tirole

University of Toulouse 1 - Industrial Economic Institute (IDEI); University of Toulouse 1 - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Mathématique et Quantitative (GREMAQ); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Josh Lerner

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit; Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Harvard University - Private Capital Research Institute

Date Written: December 2004

Abstract

This paper reviews our understanding of the growing open source movement. We highlight how many aspects of open source software appear initially puzzling to an economist. As we have acknowledge, our ability to answer confidently many of the issues raised here questions is likely to increase as the open source movement itself grows and evolves. At the same time, it is heartening to us how much of open source activities can be understood within existing economic frameworks, despite the presence of claims to the contrary. The labor and industrial organization literatures provide lenses through which the structure of open source projects, the role of contributors, and the movement's ongoing evolution can be viewed.

Suggested Citation

Tirole, Jean and Lerner, Josh, The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond (December 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10956, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=629598

Jean Tirole

University of Toulouse 1 - Industrial Economic Institute (IDEI) ( email )

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