Motivation and Sorting in Open Source Software Innovation

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Motivation and Sorting in Open Source Software Innovation

Author Info

Belenzon, Sharon
Schankerman, Mark

Abstract

This paper studies the role of intrinsic motivation, reputation and reciprocity in driving open source software innovation. We exploit the observed pattern of contributions - the 'revealed preference' of developers - to infer the underlying incentives. Using detailed information on code contributions and project membership, we classify developers into distinct groups and study how contributions from each developer type vary by license (contract) type and other project characteristics. The central empirical finding is that developers strongly sort by license type, project size and corporate sponsorship. This evidence confirms the importance of heterogeneous motivations, specifically a key role for motivated agents and reputation, but less for reciprocity.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 7012.

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Date of creation: Oct 2008
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7012

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
L17 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Open Source Products and Markets
L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
O32 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2009-02-28 (All new papers)
NEP-ICT-2009-02-28 (Information & Communication Technologies)
NEP-INO-2009-02-28 (Innovation)
NEP-IPR-2009-02-28 (Intellectual Property Rights)
NEP-PPM-2009-02-28 (Project, Program & Portfolio Management)
NEP-SOC-2009-02-28 (Social Norms & Social Capital)

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This page was last updated on 2009-12-21.

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