Toward a Knowledge Commons Perspective on the Corporate Form

Abstract

We rely on extensions of the Ostromian institutionalism to knowledge and infrastructure to take the recently proposed corporation-as-commons idea forward. We conceptualize firms as systems of shared heterogenous resources and argue that a firm’s most critical resource is its corporate mask, which enables it to operate as a singular actor. As an institutional resource that combines features of infrastructural and intellectual resources, the corporate mask is a constitutional-level legal and epistemic focal point that is shared by participants in various positions at the collective-choice and operational levels. We show how its provision and production are polycentrically governed by the legal system, the firm’s participants, and all third parties with whom the firm interacts. In the process, we build on recent work combining the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) and Social-Ecological Systems (SES) frameworks to extend the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) research program.