Open Government Data in Digital Markets: Effects on Innovation, Competition and Societal Benefits

43 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2020 Last revised: 14 Jul 2022

See all articles by Bastian Haberer

Bastian Haberer

University of Passau

Daniel Schnurr

University of Regensburg

Date Written: July 13, 2022

Abstract

Prompted by recent open data policies, public sector information is increasingly published for commercial re-use. Such open government data is especially motivated by three policy goals: innovation, competition and societal benefits. However, analyses of how open government data affects re-users' economic incentives and shape market outcomes in the digital economy are scarce. Therefore, this paper presents a conceptual analysis of the economic effects of open government data and characterizes conditions under which the intended primary policy goals can be achieved. The findings highlight a basic trade-off between innovation and competition goals and demonstrate that the effectiveness of open government data crucially depends on the specific public sector information contained in a data set. By distinguishing different information domains, policy recommendations are derived on which open government data sets can promote a desired policy goal and on how the involved economic trade-offs can be navigated by targeted open data policies.

Keywords: open government data; public sector information; data-driven business models, digital platforms, innovation, digital markets, open data policies, economics of information systems

JEL Classification: L17,L38,L86

Suggested Citation

Haberer, Bastian and Schnurr, Daniel, Open Government Data in Digital Markets: Effects on Innovation, Competition and Societal Benefits (July 13, 2022). TPRC48: The 48th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3743648 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3743648

Bastian Haberer (Contact Author)

University of Passau ( email )

Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Str. 12
Passau, 94032
Germany

Daniel Schnurr

University of Regensburg ( email )

Bajuwarenstrasse 4
Regensburg, 93040
Germany

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