OVERVIEW

Kevin Boudreau, PhD

• PhD, MIT

• MA Economics, University of Toronto

• B. Engineering, University of Waterloo

Research Interests: 

The 21st-century organization will be transformed by:

• Scalable platform practices and digital infrastructure

• A blend of human and machine-based intelligence

• A new generation of data-driven scientific management methods

Kevin studies the digital practices and platform-based organizational forms that drive the economics and management of knowledge, innovation, discovery, and science. His work focuses on massively scalable innovation and platforms, and also the production of knowledge by universities as "platforms for innovation"

Affiliations:

• Northeastern University, D'Amore-McKim School of Business (courtesy appointments at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities)

• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

• Faculty lead, multiple Experimental Digital Platforms

Editorial Responsibilities:

• Associate Editor, Management Science

• Editorial boards: Strategy Science, Strategic Management Journal

• Formerly on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Journal and co-editor of the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy

Previous Roles:

• Chief Economist, NASA Tournament Lab

• Head of European Telecoms & Internet Team, Economist Intelligence Unit

• President, Babbage Data Analytics & Innovation

• Senior Manager, Latin America M&A, Qualcomm

• Strategy Consultant, Deloitte Consulting

• Engineer, Canadian Space Agency

• Involved in multiple tech startups

CURRICULUM VITAE | RESEARCH STATEMENT

Google Scholar | SSRN  | Linkedin | Twitter | Research Statement (2022)

FIELD EXPERIMENTS

• Boudreau, K. (2021) "Promoting Platform Takeoff and Self-Fulfilling Expectations: Field Experimental Evidence."Management Science. 

• Heterogeneous Developers: Field Experimental Evidence on Sorting and Worker Effort. J. Lerner and S. Stern (eds.), The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, 50th Anniversary Volume. National Bureau of Economic Research.

• Boudreau, K. J., & M. Marx (2019). From Theory to Practice: Field Experimental Evidence on Early Exposure of Engineering Majors to Professional Work  NBER Working Paper No. w26013. 

• Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, E. Guinan (2018) "Randomized Insights: Field Experiments in Understanding Knowledge Production in the Sciences." Science.

• Boudreau, K., T. Brady, I. Ganguli, P. Gaule, E. Guinan, T. Hollenberg, K. Lakhani (2017) "A Field Experiment on Search Costs and the Formation of Scientific Collaborations." Review of Economics and Statistics.

• Boudreau, K., E. Guinan, K. Lakhani, et al. (2016) "Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance, Novelty and Resource Allocation in Science". Management Science. 

• Guinan, E., K. Boudreau, K. Lakhani (2013) "Experiments in Open Innovation at the Harvard Medical School." MIT Sloan Management Review. 54(3): 45-52.

• Boudreau, K., and K. Lakhani (2015) Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions. In Innovation Policy and the Economy. National Bureau of Economic Research, volume 16, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2014) "'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse: Theory on Processes of Cumulative Innovation and a Field Experiment in Computational Biology." Research Policy.

• Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, L. Backstrom, C. Baldwin, P. Loh, E. Lonstein, M. Lydon, A. MacCormack, R. Arnaout and E. Guinan (2013) Prize-based contests can provide solutions to computational biology problems. Nature Biotechnology. 31(2):108

COMPETITION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITHIN DIGITAL MARKETPLACES

• Boudreau, Kevin J., Lars Bo Jeppesen, and Milan Miric. "Free(mium) strategies for digital goods." In Research Handbook on Digital Strategy, pp. 126-141. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023.

• Boudreau, K, L. Jeppesen, M.Miric (2022) "Profiting from Digital Innovation: Patents, Copyright and Performance." Research Policy

• Boudreau, K, L. Jeppesen, M.Miric (2022) "Competing on Freemium: Digital Competition with Network Effects" Strategic Management Journal. (preprint)

• Boudreau, K. (2021) "Promoting Platform Takeoff and Self-Fulfilling Expectations: Field Experimental Evidence."Management Science. 

• Miric, M., K. Boudreau, L. Jeppesen (2019). "Protecting their digital assets: The use of formal & informal appropriability strategies by App developers". Research Policy

• Boudreau, K. (2018) "“Crowds” of Amateurs & Professional Entrepreneurs in Marketplaces". NBER Working Paper No. 24512.

• Boudreau, K. (2012) "Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom? An Early Look at Large Numbers of Software Apps Developers and Patterns of Innovation." `. Organization Science 23: 1409-1427.  

PLATFORMING & ORGANIZING SCIENCE & UNIVERSITIES

• Boudreau, K. J., & M. Marx (2019). From Theory to Practice: Field Experimental Evidence on Early Exposure of Engineering Majors to Professional Work  NBER Working Paper No. w26013. 

• Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, E. Guinan (2018) "Randomized Insights: Field Experiments in Understanding Knowledge Production in the Sciences." Science.

• Boudreau, K., T. Brady, I. Ganguli, P. Gaule, E. Guinan, T. Hollenberg, K. Lakhani (2017) "A Field Experiment on Search Costs and the Formation of Scientific Collaborations." Review of Economics and Statistics.

• Boudreau, K., E. Guinan, K. Lakhani, et al. (2016) "Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance, Novelty and Resource Allocation in Science". Management Science. 

  • Copeland Best Paper Award, INFORMS Best Paper Award

• Boudreau, K., and K. Lakhani (2015) Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions. In Innovation Policy and the Economy. National Bureau of Economic Research, volume 16, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2014) "'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse: Theory on Processes of Cumulative Innovation and a Field Experiment in Computational Biology." Research Policy.

• Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, L. Backstrom, C. Baldwin, P. Loh, E. Lonstein, M. Lydon, A. MacCormack, R. Arnaout and E. Guinan (2013) Prize-based contests can provide solutions to computational biology problems. Nature Biotechnology. 31(2):108

• Guinan, E., K. Boudreau, K. Lakhani (2013) "Experiments in Open Innovation at the Harvard Medical School." MIT Sloan Management Review. 54(3): 45-52.