Does Open Source (OS) represent a new innovation model, and under what conditions can it be employed in other contexts? A look into history shows that OS isn't a unique example of what is called "collective invention". Other examples are blast furnaces in Britain's Cleveland district, steam...

This paper discusses the problems of social dilemmas arising if intangible firmspecific pool resources have to be supplied. The problem is not treated adequately in the dominant theories of the firm, transaction cost economics and the knowledge-based theory.(...)

Open source is a term for software published under licence that does not give any property rights to the developers. Recently, attempts have been made to explain open source as the result of the collaboration of purely self-interested, utility-maximizingindividuals.(...)

Open source software is a collective term for different software licenses that give users access to the source code of the programs and thus allow them to develop the programs according to their needs. Because nobody can be excluded and because there is no rivalry in consumption, the open source...

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, wie kommerzielle Unternehmen die Innovationskraft von Open Source Projekten nutzen können.Als Beispiele werden Red Hat und Netscape behandelt.