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Competitive Strategy for Open Source Software

Author

Listed:
  • Vineet Kumar

    (Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02163)

  • Brett R. Gordon

    (Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027)

  • Kannan Srinivasan

    (Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

Abstract

Commercial open source software (COSS) products--privately developed software based on publicly available source code--represent a rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar market. A unique aspect of competition in the COSS market is that many open source licenses require firms to make certain enhancements public, creating an incentive for firms to free ride on the contributions of others. This practice raises a number of puzzling issues. First, why should a firm further develop a product if competitors can freely appropriate these contributions? Second, how does a market based on free riding produce high-quality products? Third, from a public policy perspective, does the mandatory sharing of enhancements raise or lower consumer surplus and industry profits? We develop a two-sided model of competition between COSS firms to address these issues. Our model consists of (1) two firms competing in a vertically differentiated market, in which product quality is a mix of public and private components, and (2) a market for developers that firms hire after observing signals of their contributions to open source. We demonstrate that free-riding behavior is supported in equilibrium, that a mandatory sharing setting can result in high-quality products, and that free riding can actually increase profits and consumer surplus.

Suggested Citation

  • Vineet Kumar & Brett R. Gordon & Kannan Srinivasan, 2011. "Competitive Strategy for Open Source Software," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1066-1078, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:30:y:2011:i:6:p:1066-1078
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1110.0669
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Eric Darmon & Dominique Torre, 2010. "Open source, dual licensing and software compétition," Post-Print halshs-00497623, HAL.
    2. Xing Gao, 2020. "Open Source or Closed Source? A Competitive Analysis with Software Security," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 56-73, March.
    3. Yan Huang & Param Vir Singh & Kannan Srinivasan, 2014. "Crowdsourcing New Product Ideas Under Consumer Learning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2138-2159, September.
    4. Carmelo Cennamo & Juan Santaló, 2019. "Generativity Tension and Value Creation in Platform Ecosystems," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 617-641, May.
    5. Terrence August & Hyoduk Shin & Tunay I. Tunca, 2018. "Generating Value Through Open Source: Software Service Market Regulation and Licensing Policy," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 186-205, March.
    6. Sheen S. Levine & Michael J. Prietula, 2014. "Open Collaboration for Innovation: Principles and Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1414-1433, October.

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