The economics of collaborative production in the spectrum commons

The dramatic growth of collaborative activities relying on non-property relationships and exchange, such as WiFi devices using unlicensed spectrum, open source software, and peer-to-peer networks, pose a challenge to the dominant economic paradigm. This paper develops definitions to describe the economic and institutional base and explain the success of collaborative production. Antirivalry and inclusiveness are characteristics of collaborative goods that are found in open wireless networks. The paper demonstrates the superior economics of collaborative production in the spectrum commons and suggests policies to extend its scope including expansion of dedicated unlicensed spectrum to allow multi-frequency applications, rules for non-interfering sharing of licensed spectrum, and development of standards and protocols to reduce transaction costs