Economics of software development

Question

Can anyone point me towards any references that attempt to formulate an economics of software development? In my own research, I discovered a book by Barry Boehm on this, but it seems very awkward and theoretical.

Dependency Structure Matrices seem to offer something worthwhile. Carliss Baldwin has used these in some work on modularization, boundaries, and transaction costs. A lot of it comes off as just common sense, though.

Also, economists have developed something called Behavioral Economics. Is there a "Behavioral Software Engineering" that addresses cognitive biases in developers or groups of developers?

Here's an interesting looking reference:
http://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Sharing-Software-Development-Comparing/dp/3639100840/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232979573&sr=1-1

Answer 1

Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering by Robert Glass has some dollar amounts associated with some activities (or, at least, percentage of total budget). Don't know if that helps at all, but it's something.

Answer 2

Before Hal Varian became the Chief Economist at Google, he had worked on the economics of information technology at Berkeley, although he did not focus on software development per se. Nevertheless I would recommend a look at his paper on the more general topic from 2001. You can find a more complete list of his research work on his website. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Software as Capital wasn't a waste of time, though you won't find any math in it and it reads like a PhD thesis because it started as one.

Another review.

Answer 4

I think that what you're looking for might fall under a sociology of software development... sociologists study all modern subjects, and from there you will no doubt find references to an economics of software development if there is one.

Answer 5

Several years ago I taught an "Economics of E-Commerce" course using Varian's book INFORMATION RULES. His idea of lock-in, though, leads the reader almost towards a drug-addict model of purchaser behaviour and exploitation. This book is more of an economics of e-business than an analysis of the software development process.

In terms of actually making software, there are ideas in the Mythical Man Month well worth knowing about.