Linux vs. Windows: A Comparison of Innovation Incentives and a Case Study

12 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2013

See all articles by Nicholas Economides

Nicholas Economides

New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics

Evangelos Katsamakas

Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University

Date Written: September 2005

Abstract

The paper analyzes and compares the investment incentives of platform and application developers for Linux and Windows. We find that the level of investment in applications is larger when the operating system is open source rather than proprietary. The comparison of the levels of investment in the operating systems depends, among others, on reputation effects and the number of developers. The paper also develops a short case study comparing Windows and Linux and identifies new directions for open source software research.

Keywords: open source software, operating systems, technology platforms, Linux, innovation incentives

Suggested Citation

Economides, Nicholas and Katsamakas, Evangelos, Linux vs. Windows: A Comparison of Innovation Incentives and a Case Study (September 2005). NYU Working Paper No. 2451/26104, Fordham University Schools of Business Research Paper No. 2323440, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2323440 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2323440

Nicholas Economides (Contact Author)

New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/networks/

Evangelos Katsamakas

Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University ( email )

140 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
United States

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