Open Government Data in Digital Markets: Effects on Innovation, Competition and Societal Benefits
43 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2020 Last revised: 14 Jul 2022
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: Suggested Citation