MICE Economic Research Studies

[Michael Gro�]

1. regarding my last posting: I do not imply that there is something phoney
about these papers; I'm just saying that I am not surprised that the
conclusion is pro Microsoft, when Microsoft Germany initiated these papers.

2. I have not had the time yet to read through these papers, but from an
economical point of view the conclusion actually could make sense: if you
have companies that sell mediocre proprietary software you need other
companies that offer software and services to meliorate the original
product.
(it is just like the environment pollution thing: having a company that
pollutes nature, and then having a company that does the decontamination
and clean-up economically makes perfectly sense: both produce something and
thus help raise the gross domestic product. Having only one company with a
"green" pruducing scheme is in terms of GDP less good).
Michael

Wouter Vanden Hove <wouter.vanden.hove at pandora.be> schrieb:

> Just noticed 2 recent "academic" papers at
> http://mice.uni-muenster.de/mers/index.htm
> 
> Open-Source Software: An Economic Assessment
> Open Source-Software: Eine volkswirtschaftliche Bewertung
> 
> The Impact of Microsoft Deutschland GmbH on the German IT Sector
> Die Bedeutung der Microsoft Deutschland GmbH für den deutschen IT-Sektor
> 
> 
> Their conclusion in short: Microsoft good, Free Software Bad.