Between IPRs and Public-Funded Research: Is a Community just a "Fancy" Science?

The study of social institutions producing and disseminating knowledge has mainly concentrated on two main concepts: science and technology . This paper examines a recent social institution that seems not to resemble either of the other two; that is, knowledge-intensive communities, where individuals freely exchange knowledge through information and communication technology. Using Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) as an example, I develop a model where this phenomenon is compared to science and confronted with technology with respect to their ability to attract researchers. My findings show that knowledge-intensive communities and science have the same nature , but a different cost/benefit trade-off .

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