Private Provision of a Complementary Public Good

Schmidtke, Richard (Juni 2006): Private Provision of a Complementary Public Good. SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 134

Abstract

For several years, an increasing number of firms are investing in Open Source Software (OSS). While improvements in such a non-excludable public good cannot be appropriated, companies can benefit indirectly in a complementary proprietary segment. We study this incentive for investment in OSS. In particular we ask how (1) market entry and (2) public investments in the public good affects the firms' production and profits. Surprisingly, we find that there exist cases where incumbents benefit from market entry. Moreover, we show the counter-intuitive result that public spending does not necessarily lead to a decreasing voluntary private contribution.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Keywords: Open Source Software, Private Provision of Public Goods, Cournot-Nash Equilibrium, Complements, Market Entry
• Fakultät: Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems ; Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems > B5 - Weltwirtschaftliche Integration und die neue Firmenorganisation ; Volkswirtschaft ; Volkswirtschaft > Lehrstühle > Seminar für Komparative Wirtschaftsforschung
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• JEL Classification: C72, L13, L86
• Sprache: Englisch