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Wikipedia: the value of open content production

Author

Listed:
  • Aleksi Aaltonen
  • Stephan Seiler

Abstract

Without the 'spillover effects' of open content production, the growth in Wikipedia editing activity between 2002 and 2010 would have been halved. That is the central finding of research by Aleksi Aaltonen and Stephan Seiler, which analyses editing data by Wikipedia users to show how content creation by individuals encourages others to contribute to the collective process of knowledge production. Many organisations are developing open source platforms to create, store and share knowledge. This study shows how a larger mass of potential contributors to an online platform will generate bigger spillovers. Providing incentives for early users to contribute content will trigger further contributions.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksi Aaltonen & Stephan Seiler, 2014. "Wikipedia: the value of open content production," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 428, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepcnp:428
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    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp428.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wikipedia; open source; user-generated content; knowledge spillover; cumulative knowledge;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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