| Abstract: |
Open source software (OSS) has recently emerged as a new way to organize
innovation and product development in the software industry. This paper
investigates the factors that explain the investment of profit-oriented firms
in OSS products. Drawing on the resource-based theory of the firm, we focus on
the role played by pre-OSS firm assets both upstream and downstream, in the
software and the hardware dimensions, to explain the rate of product
introduction in OSS. Using a self-assembled database of firms that have
announced releases of OSS products during the period 1995-2003, we find that
the intensity of product introduction can be explained by a strong position in
software technology and downstream market presence in hardware. Firms with
consolidated market presence in proprietary software and strong technological
competences in hardware are more reluctant to shift to the new paradigm. The
evidence is stronger for operating systems than for applications. The fear of
cannibalization, the crucial role of absorptive capacity, and
complementarities between hardware and software are plausible explanations
behind our findings. |