The effect of regional differences on the performance of software firms in the Netherlands

This paper aims to explore the effect of regional differences on the performance of software firms in the Netherlands. Inspired by evolutionary economics, we account for the impact of (1) co-location and sharing a local knowledge base; (2) pre-entry experience in the same or related industries; (3) being connected; and, (4) having organisational capabilities to cope with change. The outcomes of the regression analyses on data gathered among 265 software firms suggest that firms located in regions specialised in ICT have a higher innovative productivity. Spin-offs and firms with organisational capabilities also perform better, while network relationships do not affect the performance of software firms.evolutionary economics, agglomeration economies, innovative productivity, software industry, spin-offs

ON THE ECONOMICS OF THE-SOFTWARE REPLACEMENT PROBLEM

Software maintenance constitutes a significant fraction of the software budget. The cost of maintaining old applications has been escalating and this trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. The study of software maintenance strategies has become important to both researchers and practitioners in Information Systems. While there is a rich literature on the technical aspects of software maintenance, research on the economics of maintenance is in its infancy. In particular, the tradeoffs between maintaining and rewriting old software have not been investigated from a theoretical standpoint. In this paper, we present an economic model of the software replacement problem. Based on available empirical evidence, we hypothesize that, with frequent modifications and enhancements, the complexity of software increases rapidly. This deterioration of the code leads to a sharp increase in the maintenance cost. Thus, there may exist a time when it is optimal (in an economic sense) to rewrite the system, which reduces the system complexity and the subsequent maintenance cost. The proposed model allows us to compare the economics of various rewriting strategies and to determine the optimal rewriting point(s). Some interesting results with implications for the systems manager are obtained from the analysis. These include the impacts of system size, structuredness of the underlying technology, and the availability of superior technologies upon the rewriting point(s) and life cycle costs. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the model

Software Piracy in Egypt: Analysis of the Institutional Environment and Efficiency of Enforcement Measures

This paper develops the first applied econometric model to examine the efficiency of existing enforcement measures and legal framework on prevailing software piracy rates in Egypt. Hence, it can be used as a tool when discussing new policies concerning the welfare of the interest groups and the pricing of protected software products (i.e., original software products). The model will focus on the available time-series data during 1992-2002 in Egypt. This time period was chosen due to the paucity of quantitative data concerning the model. The institutional environment is examined according to the New Institutional Economics (NIE) to illustrate the legal framework, the informal constraints and the enforcement authorities to support the empirical model. Analytical results show that efficient enforcement of property rights does not only imply increasing legal enforcement through imposing more severe punishments and prosecutions, as decreasing the prices of software plays a much bigger role. Thus relying on legal enforcement authorities alone is not always economically optimal, as it will not be able to deter IPR infringement on its own.Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Legal Enforcement, New Institutional Economics (NIE), Software Piracy, Egypt

The Economics of Free and Open Source Software: Contributions to a Government Policy on Open Source Software

This document seeks to lay the groundwork for a government policy on free and open source software. We briefly characterize the extent of the open source software phenomenon. We analyse its pros and cons for the government, in its role as both an engine of economic development and a large user of information and communications technologies. We conclude with a series of recommendations for the government, as both “economic and industrial policy maker” and “large user.”free software, intellectual property rights, free source code, open source code, free operating system, GPL licence, BSD licence, innovation, forking,

EXPERIMENTAL MARKETS USING THE ELECTRONIC MARKET PLACE (EMP)

A computer system for implementing electronic markets on networks of personal computers is described. The program allows a researcher or teacher to design market simulations to meet a variety of goals, and records a complete set of market activities for analysis. Illustrations of example markets are provided, and the classroom application of market simulations in teaching agricultural economics is discussed.Computer software, Experimental economics, Simulations, Marketing,

Endogenous space in the Net era

Libre Software communities are among the most interesting and advanced socio-economic laboratories on the Net. In terms of directions of Regional Science research, this paper addresses a simple question: “Is the socio-economics of digital nets out of scope for Regional Science, or might the latter expand to a cybergeography of digitally enhanced territories ?” As for most simple questions, answers are neither so obvious nor easy. The authors start drafting one in a positive sense, focussing upon a file rouge running across the paper: endogenous spaces woven by socio-economic processes. The drafted answer declines on an Evolutionary Location Theory formulation, together with two computational modelling views. Keywords: Complex networks, Computational modelling, Economics of Internet, Endogenous spaces, Evolutionary location theory, Free or Libre Software, Path dependence, Positionality.

AGENDA: A NEW TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE FARM MANAGEMENT, INTEGRATED IN THE AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF THE EU

AGeNDA is an Italian acronym which stands for Analysis and Integrated Management of the Farm (Analisi e GEstione iNtegrata Dell'Azienda agraria). It denominates a new software developed by a research project carried out at the Department of Agronomy, Environment and Crop Production (DAAPV, University of Padova) in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency of the Veneto Region (ARPAV). Although developed from scratch, the software originates from a past joint research carried out by the two above mentioned institutions in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) of the University of Minnesota. The joint research started in the early 1990's, focussing on the Planetor software and, in particular, on the evaluation of its potentials for Italy and the development of an Italian version. The source codes and the elaboration procedures of the old and new software tools have nothing in common. Nevertheless, the methodological approach of the two tools is very similar and so is the input structure of the databases. AGeNDA, in fact adopts an approach similar to that of the previous software in utilising an extensive knowledge base about the environment and the production processes (crops and livestock) saved on databases, which are browsed (and edited if required) at the moment of the practical on farm implementation. The paper presents the results, current activities and future prospects of the AGeNDA Project, with the aim of informing the Italian - American group and stimulating possible new collaborations in the future.Farm management, Agri-environmental policy, Software, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Brief Guide to the Literature

Agent-based computational economics (ACE)is the computational study of economies modelled as evolving systems of autonomous interacting agents. This short paper is a brief guide to recent ACE research. For more information, visit the ACE Web site at http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ace.htm. Resources available at the ACE Web site include surveys, an annotated syllabus of readings, software, teaching materials, pointers to research on economic and social network formation, and pointers to individual researchers and research groups.Agent-based computational economics

ECONOMICS OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

In this paper, we investigate economics of software development. We first identify several dimensions of software quality from user’s perspectives. We model the tradeoff between having more features and functionalities and the ease of learning in usability, and the tradeoffs among ease of use, ease of learning, and usage frequency. Based on the impacts of quality dimensions on user’s utility, we analyze the software monopoly’s economic incentives to provide high quality software products and build analytical model to analyze the software company’s optimal design decisions. (Keywords: Software, Usability, Economics