Andrea Bonaccorsi

Entry Strategies Under Competing Standards: Hybrid Business Models in the Open Source Software Industry

The paper analyzes the strategies of software firms that have entered the open source (OS) field. The notion of the OS business model is discussed in the light of a substantial body of theoretical literature concerning strategic management and the economics of innovation, as well as specialized literature on OS. Empirical evidence based on a survey of 146 Italian software firms shows that firms have adapted to an environment dominated by incumbent standards by combining the offering of proprietary and OS software under different licensing schemes, thus choosing a hybrid business model. The paper examines the determinants of the degree of openness toward OS and discusses the stability of hybrid models in the evolution of the industry.

Advanced indicators of productivity of universitiesAn application of robust nonparametric methods to Italian data

SummaryThis paper explores scale, scope and trade-off effects in scientific research and education. External conditions may dramatically affect the measurement of performance. We apply theDaraio&Simars (2005) nonparametric methodology to robustlytake into account these factors and decompose the indicators of productivity accordingly. From a preliminary investigation on the Italian system of universities, we find that economies of scale and scope are not significant factors in explaining research and education productivity. We do not find any evidence of the trade-off research vs teaching. About the trade-off academic publications vs industry oriented research, it seems that, initially, collaboration with industry may improve productivity, but beyond a certain level the compliance with industry expectations may be too demanding and deteriorate the publication profile. Robust nonparametric methods in efficiency analysis are shown as useful tools for measuring and explaining the performance of a public research system of universities.

Universities and Strategic Knowledge Creation

Although the role of universities in the knowledge society is increasingly significant, there remains a severe lack of systematic quantitative evidence at the micro-level, with virtually all policy discussion based on country level statistics or case studies. This book redresses the balance by examining original data from universities in six European countries – Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Age effects in scientific productivity

Age effects in scientific production are a consolidated stylised fact in the literature. At the level of scientist productivity declines with age following a predictable pattern. The problem of the impact of age structure on scientific productivity at the level of institutes is much less explored. The paper examines evidence from the Italian National Research Council. The path of hiring of junior researchers along the history of the institution is reconstructed. We find that age structure has a depressing effect on productivity and derive policy implications. The dynamics of growth of research institutes is introduced as a promising research field.

The Evolution of Knowledge and the Dynamics of an Industry Network

The paper moves a step forward in the direction of establishing a connection between the structure and evolution of knowledge bases and the structure and evolution of organizational forms in innovative activities in a science-intensive industry. The paper has an explicit focus on the dynamics of the network of collaborative agreements in R&D in the pharma/biotech industry after the “molecular biology revolution”. Using a comprehensive dataset, built by the authors integrating several sources in the industry, the dynamics of the network over time is extensively analyzed. With regards to network structure, it is found that, while the size of the network increases over time due to net flows of entry, its topological properties remain relatively unchanged. The evolution of the network has occurred without relevant deformations in the core-periphery profile. With regards to age-dependent propensity to collaborate, the paper finds that the extent of inter-generational collaboration is much more significant than intra-generational collaboration. In addition, the propensity of firms of a given generation to enter into collaboration with firms of a different generation increases with the distance between the two, while the total number of intra-generational collaborations decreases over time and, moreover, tends to decrease for most recent generations. In the paper a unitary and coherent explanation of the evidence is developed, coming to reveal the existence of a striking isomorphism between structural properties of the dynamics of knowledge and of the evolution of network structure.

A robust nonparametric approach to the analysis of scientific productivity

Data on scientific productivity at institutes of the French INSERM and at biomedical research institutes of the Italian CNR for 1997 were analysed. Available data on human capital input and geographical agglomeration allowed the estimation and comparison of efficiency measures. Nonparametric envelopment techniques were used, and robust nonparametric techniques were applied in this work for the first time for evaluating scientific productivity. They are shown to be useful tools to compute scientific productivity indicators and make institutional comparative analyses. Taking into account a large number of methodological problems, a meaningful and rigorous indirect comparison is made possible. Several possible explanations of the observed differences in productivity are commented on. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

When shakeout doesn't occur: The evolution of the turboprop engine industry

Abstract A careful case study of the history of the turboprop engine industry (1948–1997) is offered as an example of non-shakeout pattern. The persistence of high concentration is not associated with the exit of smaller manufacturers, but instead a stable coexistence of generalist and specialist strategies emerges, in sharp contrast to the pattern observed in the, otherwise similar, jet engine industry. This paper identifies the relevant variables of a more general theory of industry life cycle by taking into account the lack of creation of significant increasing returns in R&D, manufacturing or marketing, all of which are commonly found in industries that produce systemic products.

The long-term evolution of vertically-related industries

The paper develops the argument that the long-term structural evolution of an industry depends on the evolution of a vertically-related, downstream industry. We analyse two pairs of vertically-related industries, the jet and turboprop aircraft and engine industries, since the first introduction of the jet and turboprop technologies to 1998. The paper shows that the evolutionary dynamics of the downstream industry, in terms of number of firms and products, entry, exit and concentration, is transmitted to the upstream industry via the structure of the network of vertical exchange relations. We identify two network configurations, partitioned and hierarchical, and show that they are responsible for sharply different transmission effects. An econometric analysis is carried out to demonstrate this difference in the turboprop and jet markets.

Explaining poor performance of European science: Institutions versus policies

This paper offers detailed evidence of the weak performance of European science in the upper tail of scientific quality, in fast moving scientific fields, and in new fields that follow a proliferation pattern of growth, or divergent search regime. The relatively poor performance is offered as a better explanation than the European paradox for current difficulties in high technology industries and trade. The paper calls for a shift of attention, from the level of science policy to the dynamic comparative analysis of deep institutional features of scientific systems, offering a number of provocative statements on scientific institutions in European countries. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

The changing boundaries of system companies

While project marketing and systems selling are mainly concerned with market relations of companies organized on a project basis, it is important to conceptualize the interactions between market conditions and long term technology problems of these firms. The paper deals with strategic problems of system companies. By system companies the authors mean those large, multi-technology, multi-business firms that are typically active in systemic industries in most industrialized countries. In these industries market demand has some peculiar features: discontinuity, heterogeneity and customization, long and complex buying process, variable specification capability of customers. On the supply side, system companies produce unique or small series products, on a customized basis, by using a large array of technologies. System integration is the distinctive strategic capability of these companies. It is argued that system integration involves the management of a peculiar kind of uncertainty. The long run strategic objective of system companies is to maintain the global control of the technological dynamics of the system. However, there are many possible changes in the boundaries of product systems that may threat the viability of control. To gain strategic control, system companies have to manipulate simultaneously market and technology leverages. The paper offers a rich conceptual discussion of these problems.