A Model for the Emergence and Diffusion of Software Standards

The economic impact of the growth dynamic of standards is often described from a macroeconomic point of view, employing network effect theory and models dealing with externalities. Game-theoretic models try to depict and predict the situation on the microeconomic side. We follow a new approach, which simulates the system’s behavior based on the modeling of a set of individual conduction rules, and their interaction in a closed environment. Implementing such an Agent based Computational Economics approach, using a simulation environment called SWARM, we assume the existence of three firm sizes combined with three types of standards. Each standard has an optimal fit to a firm size, which results in reduced costs according to standardization benefits, whereas other combinations lead to lower savings respectively. In addition we postulate initial standardization cost for internal restructuring measures and different scopes of communication fitted to the three firm types. Each firm can r...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Tim Stockheim, Michael Schwind, Wolfgang König
• Keywords: Biometrics, Firm Size, Firm Types, HICSS 2003, Standardization Benefit, System Sciences