Open Source Software: Free Provision Of Complex Public Goods

Open Source Software: Free Provision of Complex Public Goods

Open source software, developed by volunteers, appears counter to the conventional wisdom that without ownership rights or government intervention, public goods will not be efficiently provided. But complexity makes a difference: contracts are incomplete and ownership rights do not necessarily elicit socially optimal effort. I consider three mechanisms that improve the provision of complex soft...

Public intervention for Free/Open Source Software

Free/Open Source Software

This position paper provides an overview of the Open Source Software movement and defines how companies can approach, exploit, and learn from it. More specifically, this position paper will first provide the needed details on Open Source licensing models – a key element to be aware of in order to safely approach Open Source. Then, it will provide motivating rationales for getting involved in Op...

Free-Libre Open Source Software as a Public Policy Choice

Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is characterised by a specific programming and development paradigm. The availability and freedom of use of source code are at the core of this paradigm, and are the prerequisites for FLOSS features. Unfortunately, the fundamental role of code is often ignored among those who decide the software purchases for Canadian public agencies. Source code availabi...

Corporate Provision of Public Goods∗

Firms spend considerable amounts on socially responsible business practices. These expenditures are often seen as an indirect form of profit maximization or a perquisite of the manager at shareholder expense. We offer a more direct explanation. Since shareholders enjoy both consumption and private benefits from public goods, managers acting on their behalf will (1) provision more public goods t...