The Rise and Fall of an Online Project. Is Bureaucracy Killing Efficiency in Open Knowledge Production?
OpenSym, 2015
10 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2015 Last revised: 15 Sep 2015
Date Written: August 21, 2015
Abstract
We evaluate the efficiency of an online knowledge production project and identify factors that affect efficiency. To assess efficiency, we used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) modelling methodology. We apply DEA to data from more than 30 Wikipedia language projects over three years. We show that the main Wikipedia projects were indeed less efficient that smaller ones, an effect that can be attributed in part to decreasing returns to scale.
Keywords: Wikipedia, Data Envelopment Analysis, efficiency, information system
JEL Classification: C67, D29, L23, L86
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