Design Rules, Volume 2: Evolution
with Kim B. Clark, in progress, (provisional subtitle)
This is the sequel to Design Rules, Volume 1. We are investigating the phenomenon of design and industry evolution as it occurred in the computer industry from 1980 to 2002 (approximately). Our perspective is that of institutional economics: we think that the design of artifacts defines a technological architecture, in which economic agents play games. When a set of linked games creates a financially sufficient local system, the local system becomes a stable and self-perpetuating institution in the greater economy. A local system can be a firm, a group of firms, or a group of individuals, as in an open source development project. Over time, actions and learning within the local systems cause the designs to evolve, and resource flows to the different local systems cause the industry to evolve.
The project has subparts in various states of completion.
I. Basic Design Economics- Modularity in the Design of Complex Engineering Systems (HBS Working Paper)
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- The Fundamental Theorem of Design Economics (HBS working paper)
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- Where Do Transactions Come From? A Perspective from Engineering Design (HBS Working Paper)
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- The Technology of Design and its Problems (HBS working paper)
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II. Modular Clusters- The Pricing and Profitability of Modular Clusters (with Jason Woodard)
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- Industry Evolution (empirical)
- Outsourcing, ROIC and Growth
- Open Standards and Points of Control
- Sun Wars: Competition in a Modular Cluster in Competing in an Age of Digital Convergence (David Yoffie, ed.) Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA 1996.
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III. Design Monopolies- Property Rights and Design Substitution Games
- Deterring Entry or Outsourcing R&D?
- The Scope of a Design Monopoly
- The Architectural Goals of a Design Monopoly
IV. Design Cooperatives- Does Code Architecture Mitigate Free-riding in the Open Source Development Process? (HBS working paper) Download file in PDF or view in HTML.
- The Architecture and Evolution of an Open Source Codebase
V. The Coordination of Beliefs