Open Source and the Software Industry How Firms Do Business out of an Open Innovation Paradigm

VERY PRELIMINARY VERSION PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE Abstract Open Source Software (OSS) represents an “open innovation” paradigm based on knowledge produced and shared by developers and users. The paper inquires how OSS challenges the three Teece’s building blocks. New findings from a large survey of European software companies, show that within the OSS paradigm: (i) OSS can be a sustainable business model even in the absence of any appropriability; (ii) complementary assets are distributed collectively and made widely available without the need for dedicated contractual arrangements; (iii) a de facto dominant design may stem from a community of users/producers even independently of the presence of powerful large companies.