political economy

A branch of the social sciences that studies how political power and institutions interact with economic systems, markets, and the distribution of resources in society. Open source is considered a "political economy" because it describes a mode of production (peer/collaborative), a property regime (shared code with license‑mediated access), and a set of governance and power relations (between volunteers, firms, and states) that together determine how value and control are distributed. That combination of institutions, incentives, and power over a key economic infrastructure is precisely what is meant by a “political economy.”