Why Growing Up Is Hard To Do: Institutional Challenges for Internet Governance in the "Quarter-Life Crisis" of the Digital Revolution

This paper presents an institutional analysis of the success of the Internet by combining Elinor Ostrom’s concepts of “Institutional Analysis and Development” with Douglas North’s approach to “New Institutional Economics.” The purpose is to advance the debate over Internet governance by identifying approaches to the “quarterlife crisis” of the digital revolution that will allow the Internet to adapt to new social responsibilities, while preserving and extending its ability to provide dynamic contributions to economic and political development.