A strategic analysis of electronic marketplaces
MIS Quarterly - Special issue on the strategic use of information systems
Decompilation of binary programs
Software—Practice & Experience
Journey of the software professional: a sociology of software development
Journey of the software professional: a sociology of software development
Operating systems (2nd ed.): design and implementation
Operating systems (2nd ed.): design and implementation
Design Rules: The Power of Modularity Volume 1
Design Rules: The Power of Modularity Volume 1
The Triumph of Ethernet: Technological Communities and the Battle for the LAN Standard
The Triumph of Ethernet: Technological Communities and the Battle for the LAN Standard
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
Platform Leadership
The Business of Software: What Every Manager, Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and Bad
Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries
Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More
Two-Sided Network Effects: A Theory of Information Product Design
Management Science
eBay's Crowded Evenings: Competition Neglect in Market Entry Decisions
Management Science
Information Systems Research
Entry and Patenting in the Software Industry
Management Science
Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World
Organization Science
The Effects of Rewarding User Engagement: The Case of Facebook Apps
Information Systems Research
Vertical Differentiation and a Comparison of Online Advertising Models
Journal of Management Information Systems
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Inferring app demand from publicly available data
MIS Quarterly
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In this paper, I study the effect of adding large numbers of producers of application software programs (“apps”) to leading handheld computer platforms, from 1999 to 2004. To isolate causal effects, I exploit changes in the software labor market. Consistent with past theory, I find a tight link between the number of producers on platform and the number of software varieties that were generated. The patterns indicate the link is closely related to the diversity and distinct specializations of producers. Also highlighting the role of heterogeneity and nonrandom entry and sorting, later cohorts generated less compelling software than earlier cohorts. Adding producers to a platform also shaped investment incentives in ways that were consistent with a tension between network effects and competitive crowding, alternately increasing or decreasing innovation incentives depending on whether apps were differentiated or close substitutes. The crowding of similar apps dominated in this case; the average effect of adding producers on innovation incentives was negative. Overall, adding large numbers of producers led innovation to become more dependent on population-level diversity, variation, and experimentation—while drawing less on the heroic efforts of any one individual innovator.