Open source, ICT infrastructure and firm performance

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URL:	http://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/2637
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-26371
Document Type:	Working paper
Year of publication:	2009
The title of a journal, publication series:	None
Publication language:	English
Institution:	Sonstige Einrichtungen > ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung
MADOC publication series:	Veröffentlichungen des ZEW (Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung) > ZEW Discussion Papers
Subject:	330 Economics
Classification:	JEL: O32 L25 D21 ,
Subject headings (SWD):	Open Source , Forschung und Entwicklung , Innovation , Betriebsdaten , Informationstechnik
Keywords (English):	Open source , information and communication technologies , R&D incentives , innovation , firm level data
Abstract:	This paper empirically studies the impact of the adoption of open source software (OSS) on firms' labor productivity and innovative behavior. Using a representative sample of German firms, the results show that the adoption of OSS operating systems for servers and general OSS applications has no impact on firm level labor productivity, while the adoption of OSS operating systems for PCs impacts labor productivity negatively. This result points to the costs associated with the implementation of open source software. Moreover, the analysis shows that the adoption of OSS operating systems for PCs has a positive effect on the value of introduced process innovations, suggesting efficiency gains by adopting a tailored ICT infrastructure. These benefits might explain the positive correlation observed between OSS operating systems for servers and PCs, and firms' R&D intensities.