Capability Coordination in Modular Organization: Voluntary FSS/OSS Production and the Case of Debian GNU/Linux.
by Giampaolo Garzarelli and Roberto Galoppini.
Abstract/Summary
The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization.
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@TechReport{RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0312005, author={Giampaolo Garzarelli and Roberto Galoppini}, title={Capability Coordination in Modular Organization: Voluntary FS/OSS Production and the Case of Debian GNU/Linux}, year=2003, month=Dec, institution={EconWPA}, type={Industrial Organization}, url={http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpio/0312005.html;http://128.118.178.162/eps/io/papers/0312/0312005.pdf}, number={0312005}, abstract={The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization.}, keywords={Modularity; hierarchy; capabilities; coordination costs; software.} }
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