Complementarity (molecular biology)

Extension (predicate logic)

Ecology

Biology

Modular programming

Computer science

Business

Competition (biology)

Genetics

Industrial organization

Programming language

Information Systems Research

Intraplatform competition has received scant attention in prior studies, which predominantly study interplatform competition. We develop a middle-range theory of how complementarity between input control and a platform extension’s modularization—by inducing evolution—influences its performance in a platform market. Primary and archival data spanning five years from 342 Firefox extensions show that such complementarity fosters performance by accelerating an extension’s perpetual evolution.

Evolutionary Competition in Platform Ecosystems