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Two-sided competition of proprietary vs. open source technology platforms and the implications for the software industry1

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Author Info
Nicholas Economides () (Stern School of Business, NYU)
Evangelos Katsamakas (Fordham University)

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Abstract

Technology platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, are the hubs of technology industries. We develop a framework to characterize the optimal two-sided pricing strategy of a platform firm, that is, the pricing strategy towards the direct users of the platform as well as towards firms offering applications that are complementary to the platform. We compare industry structures based on a proprietary platform (such as Windows) with those based on an open-source platform (such as Linux) and analyze the structure of competition and industry implications in terms of pricing, sales, profitability, and social welfare. We find that, when the platform is proprietary, the equilibrium prices for the platform, the applications, and the platform access fee for applications may be below marginal cost, and we characterize demand conditions that lead to this. The proprietary applications sector of an industry based on an open source platform may be more profitable than the total profits of a proprietary platform industry. When users have a strong preference for application variety, the total profits of the proprietary industry are larger than the total profits of an industry based on an open source platform. The variety of applications is larger when the platform is open source. When a system based on an open source platform with an independent proprietary application competes with a proprietary system, the proprietary system is likely to dominate the open source platform industry both in terms of marketshare and profitability. This may explain the dominance of Microsoft in the market for PC operating systems.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by NET Institute in its series Working Papers with number 05-06.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2005
Date of revision: Oct 2005
Handle: RePEc:net:wpaper:0506

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Web page: http://www.NETinst.org/

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Joseph Farrell and Michael L. Katz., 2000. "Innovation, Rent Extraction, and Integration in Systems Markets," Economics Working Papers E00-286, University of California at Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Jürgen Bitzer & Philipp J. H. Schröder, 2003. "Competition and Innovation in a Technology Setting Software Duopoly," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 363, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  3. Lerner, Josh & Tirole, Jean, 2002. "Some Simple Economics of Open," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2), pages 197-234, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Economides, Nicholas & Salop, Steven C, 1992. "Competition and Integration among Complements, and Network Market Structure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(1), pages 105-23, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Cooperation Among Competitors: Some Economics Of Payment Card Associations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 549-570, Winter.
  6. Carmen Matutes & Pierre Regibeau, 1988. ""Mix and Match": Product Compatibility without Network Externalities," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(2), pages 221-234, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Economides, Nicholas, 1996. "The economics of networks," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 673-699, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Lerner, Josh & Tirole, Jean, 2001. "The open source movement: Key research questions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 819-826, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2001. "Chicken and Egg: Competing Matchmakers," CEPR Discussion Papers 2885, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Mikko Mustonen, 2005. "When Does a Firm Support Substitute Open Source Programming?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 121-139, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Mark Armstrong Author-Email: mark.armstrong@ucl.ac.uk, 2006. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, Autumn.
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  12. Rochet, Jean-Charles & Tirole, Jean, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," IDEI Working Papers 152, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Justin Pappas Johnson, 2002. "Open Source Software: Private Provision of a Public Good," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(4), pages 637-662, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Economides, Nicholas, 1989. "Desirability of Compatibility in the Absence of Network Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 1165-81, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1994. "Systems Competition and Network Effects," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 93-115, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole, 2005. "The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 99-120, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Nicholas Economides & Joacim Tag, 2007. "Net Neutrality on the Internet: A Two-sided Market Analysis," Working Papers 07-27, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Vitor Trindade & Johannes Moenius, 2007. "Networks, Standards and Intellectual Property Rights," Working Papers 0705, Department of Economics, University of Missouri. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jo Reynaerts & Patrick Van Cayseele, 2007. "Complementary Platforms," LICOS Discussion Papers 18607, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  4. Nicholas Economides, 2007. "“Net Neutrality,” Non-Discrimination and Digital Distribution of Content Through the Internet," Working Papers 07-03, NET Institute, revised Mar 2007. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Eric Brousseau & Thierry Penard, 2007. "The Economics of Digital Business Models: A Framework for Analyzing the Economics of Platforms," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 6(2), pages 81-114, June. [Downloadable!]
  6. Juan D. Carrillo & Guofu Tan, 2006. "Platform Competition: The Role of Multi-homing and Complementors," Working Papers 06-30, NET Institute, revised Oct 2006. [Downloadable!]
  7. Alex Gaudeul, 2007. "Do Open Source Developers Respond to Competition? The Case Study," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 6(2), pages 239-263, June. [Downloadable!]
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