Collective Action in Communication and Information-Based Public Goods: Interorganizational Computer-Supported Collaborative Work

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This research extends traditional public goods theory by examining the connectivity and communality properties of communication and information-based public goods. This pilot study supports the development of methods and instruments to conduct a longitudinal examination of communication and information-based public goods. The research is motivated by the specific example of a large interorganizational computer-supported collaborative work system. This type of information-based collective action is theorized to possess two properties that are uniquely important to communication forms of collective goods: connectivity and communality. Marwell and Oliver's (1993) theoretical framework integrates four characteristics of public goods: the good itself, individuals, the groups or organizations involved with the good, and the action process. The research is designed to test hypotheses that link collective action theory, communication and information systems, and collaborative work processes and effects.