Product variety and firm survival in the microcomputer software industry
利用企业和产品层面的数据，分析了微型计算机软件行业中产品多样性与范围经济的关系，发现消费侧范围经济显著，而生产侧不明显；产品覆盖更多应用类别有助于企业绩效，但覆盖更多计算平台则不利。
Abstract This article provides an analysis of product variety and scope economies in the microcomputer software industry by using detailed firm‐level and product‐level information on firms' bundling of functionalities over application categories and computing platforms. We find that the management of product variety through the way different application categories are integrated in products and the platforms on which these products are offered can be as important as the significance of scope economies at the more aggregated firm level. Specifically, we find that there is little evidence of firm benefits from economies of scope in production, but there is substantial evidence that products benefit from economies of scope in consumption. In addition, we find that firms with products that encapsulate more application categories perform better, and those with products that cover more computing platforms perform worse. Finally, changes in product variety through new product introductions improve firm performance, but extensions to existing products hinder the performance of the firm and the product. We conclude that research in scope economies can benefit from a more detailed model of the evolution of product variety that includes data and analysis at the firm level and at the product level. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.