Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • July–August 2018
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Learning by Contributing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Contribution to Crowdsourced Public Goods

By: Frank Nagle
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

As the economy becomes more information based, firms are increasingly using crowdsourced public goods as inputs for innovation and production. Counterintuitively, some firms pay their employees to contribute to the creation of these goods, which can be used freely by their competitors. This study argues that such firms learn by contributing as they receive feedback from the crowd of more experienced users and are therefore able to better capture value from using the goods. Data on firm contributions to open source software (OSS), an important crowdsourced public good, is used to test the theoretical predictions. Using matching and panel data methods to help address endogeneity concerns, this study shows that contributing firms capture up to 100% more productive value from usage of OSS than their free-riding peers. Furthermore, this paper examines what types of contributions are most beneficial and in what technological environments such learning can best be applied.

Keywords

Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Learning; Competitive Advantage

Citation

Nagle, Frank. "Learning by Contributing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Contribution to Crowdsourced Public Goods." Organization Science 29, no. 4 (July–August 2018): 569–587.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Frank Nagle

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Note on Cyberattacks and Regulatory Regimes

    By: Frank Nagle, George A. Riedel, William R. Kerr and David Lane
    • August 2022
    • Faculty Research

    The Wallet Wars: MetaMask

    By: Frank Nagle and Abhinav Sah
    • June 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems

    By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein
More from the Author
  • Note on Cyberattacks and Regulatory Regimes By: Frank Nagle, George A. Riedel, William R. Kerr and David Lane
  • The Wallet Wars: MetaMask By: Frank Nagle and Abhinav Sah
  • Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College