Abstract
This paper presents an economics-based approach for studying the problem of resource allocation among software development phases. Our approach is structured along two parallel axes: theoretical and empirical. We developed a general economic model for analyzing the allocation problem as a constrained profit maximization problem. The model, based on a novel concept of software production function, considers the effects of different allocations of development resources on output measures of the resulting software product. An empirical environment for evaluating and refining the model is presented, and a first exploratory study for characterizing the model's components and developers' resource allocation decisions is described. The findings illustrate how the model can be applied and validate its underlying assumptions and usability. Future quantitative empirical studies can refine and substantiate various aspects of the proposed model and ultimately improve the productivity of software development processes.
Highlights
Fundamental disagreements often arise with regard to the “correct” allocation of resources to various software development phases (SDPs)
While its goal is not optimizing the allocation of resources among the SDPs, this model uses empirical data on software development costs to estimate the cost of any given project
The first is to enhance our understanding of resource allocation decisions, their complex nature, and their influence on the output
Summary
Fundamental disagreements often arise with regard to the “correct” allocation of resources to various software development phases (SDPs). While its goal is not optimizing the allocation of resources among the SDPs, this model uses empirical data on software development costs to estimate the cost of any given project. We did not find in the literature any empirically based decision making model that concretizes these generic optimization models to the specific problem of resource allocation across SDPs. Some VBSE-related works address subproblems of the one we focus on. Our goal in this paper is to suggest an economics-based approach for studying the problem of resource allocation among SDPs. A note on terminology: there is no common, standard terminology in the literature for the different activities and their classification according to what we call phases.
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