Publications

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Article

Why Congress Should Invest in Open-Source Software

By: Frank Nagle

March 2022
Article

How to Prioritize the Improvement of Open-Source Software Security

By: Frank Nagle

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Cybersecurity; Applications and Software

31 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Investment Incentives in Proprietary and Open-Source Two-Sided Platforms

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Gastón Llanes

2017
Working Paper

Exploring the Relationship between Architecture Coupling and Software Vulnerabilities: A Google Chrome Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Dan Sturtevant and Lee Doolan

Employing software metrics, such as size and complexity, for predicting defects has been given a lot of attention over the years and has proven very useful. However, the few studies looking at software architecture and vulnerabilities are limited in scope and findings.... View Details

Keywords: Software; Architecture; Coupling; Vulnerabilities; Applications and Software; Complexity; Measurement and Metrics

September 2, 2021
Article

The Digital Economy Runs on Open Source. Here's How to Protect It.

By: Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Frank Nagle

Free and open source software (FOSS) is essential to much of the tech we use every day—from cars to phones to planes to the cloud. While traditionally, it was developed by an army of volunteer developers and given away for free, companies are increasingly taking a more... View Details

Keywords: Free And Open-source Software; FOSS; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Policy; Cybersecurity

Register to Read

15 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Business of Free Software

think about business development and alliances. In another ironic twist, some developers who were motivated toward open-source software development in rebellion against huge proprietary View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

Article

Matriarch: A Python Library for Materials Architecture

By: Tristan Giesa, Ravi Jagadeesan, David I. Spivak and Markus J. Buehler

Biological materials, such as proteins, often have a hierarchical structure ranging from basic building blocks at the nanoscale (e.g., amino acids) to assembled structures at the macroscale (e.g., fibers). Current software for materials engineering allows the user to... View Details

Keywords: Building Block; Category Theory; Hierarchical Protein Materials; Molecular Design; Open-Source Software; Structure Creation

Purchase

13 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Shouldn't Delay Software Updates—Even After CrowdStrike's Flaw

open-source Apache HTTP. The popular web-server software was used by more than 150,000 medium and large US organizations between the years 2000 and 2018, allowing the authors to examine a large dataset over... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Information Technology; Computer; Web Services

Article

Exploring the Duality Between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the 'Mirroring' Hypothesis

By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak

A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that the organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Architecture; Modularity; Open Source Software; Communication; Design; Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Open Source Distribution; Product Design; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Software

July 2006
Article

Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat

This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details

November 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Red Hat and the Linux Revolution

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

The case describes the history of the Linux operating system and the open-source movement in general. Focuses on a critical decision being made by Red Hat, the largest distributor of Linux, about its future development efforts. The decision allows students to explore... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Product Development; Change Management; Research and Development; Business Processes; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology Industry; North Carolina

Educators

Purchase

22 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Proprietary vs. Open Two-Sided Platforms and Social Efficiency

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Video Game; Web Services

September 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

VMware, Inc. (A)

By: David B. Yoffie, Ward Bullard, Nikhil Raj and Suja Vaidyanathan

VMware, Inc., the first company to crack the software virtualization market, faces new challenges from competitors' plans to bundle free virtualization solutions in operating systems. VMware, acquired by data storage giant EMC Corp. in 2003, has delivered top-line... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Open Source Distribution; Competition

27 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis

Keywords: by Alan D. MacCormack, John Rusnak & Carliss Y. Baldwin

29 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 29, 2007

firm, forcing the firm to lower its prices. If the open source developers' intrinsic motivation is high enough, they will develop software regardless of eventual market dynamics. If the open source product is available first, all... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

http://papers.nber.org/papers/W13281 Diasporas and Domestic Entrepreneurs: Evidence from the Indian Software Industry Authors:Ramana Nanda and Tarun Khanna Abstract This study explores the importance of cross-border social networks for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Self-Regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

Keywords: by Andrew King & Michael W. Toffel

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

since little of the upside tends to flow back onto corporate balance sheets. To that end, Nagle says, “Can we design systems and regulations to allow a company to get some of those benefits?” One model for the future: Free and open source View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

2024
Working Paper

Webmunk: A New Tool for Studying Online Behavior and Digital Platforms

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Chris Karr

Understanding the behavior of users online is important for researchers, policymakers, and private companies alike. But observing online behavior and conducting experiments is difficult without direct access to the user base and software of technology companies. We... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Technology Adoption; Behavior; Research; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web