Software is a good with very special economic characteristics. Taking a general definition of software as its starting … and cost structure, the demand, the contestability of software-markets, and the allocative efficiency. In this context it … appears to be reasonable to subsume the various characteristics under the following generic terms: software as a means of data …

The economic characteristics of software and transaction costs explain, why closed source and open source software co … say, a first best realization of contracts is not feasible. Hence, open and closed source software are two second best …