The paper analyses the entry strategies of software firms that adopt the Open Source production model. A new definition of business model is proposed. Empirical evidence, based on an exploratory survey taken on 146 Italian software firms * , shows that firms adapted to an environment dominated by incumbent standards by combining Open Source and proprietary software. The paper examines the deter...

It is seldom possible to plausibly define and observe a pool of potential entrants to a market. This study overcomes that limitation by taking advantage of an opportunity to reasonably define the potential entrants into MTBE production, a rapidly growing environmental product from the mid-1980’s to mid-1990’s. Potential entrants are identified as those firms having access to specific assets tha...

We consider the advantages and disadvantages of stakeholder-oriented firms that are concerned with employees and suppliers as well as shareholders compared to shareholderoriented firms. Societies with stakeholder-oriented firms have higher prices, lower output, and can have greater firm value than shareholder-oriented societies. In some circumstances, firms may voluntarily choose to be stakehol...

Entry by spinoffs from incumbent firms is investigated for the laser industry. A model in which spinoffs exploit knowledge from their parents is constructed to explain the market conditions conducive to spinoffs, the types of firms that spawn spinoffs, and the relationship of spinoffs to their parents. The model is tested using detailed data on all laser entrants from the start of the industry ...

Industry incumbents frequently delay entry into emerging technical subfields, fearing product cannibalization and uncertain investment, and enter only after technical and market uncertainties have subsided. We predict that many incumbents, particularly stronger firms, will participate in alliances with other firms before their standalone entry. The alliances will be used to realize part of the ...

This study explores the impact of knowledge stock and knowledge centrality, which are the two main characteristics of innovative start-ups’ entry technologies in the local knowledge base, on firms’ technological innovation and diversification. It tests the hypotheses with patent and firmlevel data of innovative start-ups in Shanghai Information Communication Technology cluster from 1985 to 2009...

This paper discusses the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on market entry and welfare. It assumes that firms may enter markets in the first period as national firms only. In the second period, however, FDI is possible. The paper demonstrates that FDI reduces market entry because equilibrium profits in the second period decline with a decrease in the fixed cost of FDI. Therefore, compar...

Geographic clustering of innovative industries is associated with the entry and success of spinoff firms. We develop a model to explain the multiple empirical patterns regarding cluster growth and spinoff formation and performance, without relying on agglomeration externalities. Clustering naturally follows from spinoffs locating near their parents. In our model, firms grow and spinoffs form th...

Sales in a new market generally follow a hockey-stick pattern: after commercialization, sales are very low for some time before there is a dramatic “takeoff” in growth. Reported sales takeoffs across products vary widely from a few years to several decades. Prior research identifies new firm entry or price declines as key factors that relate to the timing of a sales takeoff in new markets. Howe...

This paper studies the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) and the entry modes decision by multinational firms. A model is developed allowing firms to choose among export, foreign direct investment (FDI), and licensing. Firms in the recipient country may imitate the technology, and their abilities to do so depend both on the nature of each mode and on the level of IPR protec...