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Intrinsic Motivation in Open Source Software Development

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Author Info

  • Jürgen Bitzer

    (Free University Berlin Department of Economics & Institute for East European Studies)

  • Wolfram Schrettl

    (Free University Berlin Department of Economics & Institute for East European Studies)

  • Philipp J.H. Schröder

    (Aarhus School of Business)

Abstract

This papers sheds light on the puzzling evidence that even though open source software (OSS) is a public good, it is developed for free by highly qualified, young and motivated individuals, and evolves at a rapid pace. We show that once OSS development is understood as the private provision of a public good, these features emerge quite naturally. We adapt a dynamic private-provision-of-public-goods model to reflect key aspects of the OSS phenomenon. In particular, instead of relying on extrinsic motives (e.g. signaling) the present model is driven by intrinsic motives of OSS programmers, such as user- programmers, play value or 'homo ludens' payoff, and gift culture benefits. Such intrinsic motives feature extensively in the wider OSS literature and contribute new insights to the economic analysis.

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File URL: http://128.118.178.162/eps/dev/papers/0505/0505007.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Development and Comp Systems with number 0505007.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: 04 May 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0505007

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 29
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Web page: http://128.118.178.162

Related research

Keywords: open source software; public goods; homo ludens; war of attrition;

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References

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  1. Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole, 2003. "The Scope of Open Source Licensing," Levine's Working Paper Archive 506439000000000140, David K. Levine.
  2. Marc Bilodeau & Al Slivinski, . "Toilet Cleaning and Department Chairing: Volunteering a Public service," Public Economics 9405001, EconWPA.
  3. Nitsch, Volker, 2005. "Zipf Zipped," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute of Economics (VWL) 34471, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute of Economics (VWL).
  4. Zeitlyn, David, 2003. "Gift economies in the development of open source software: anthropological reflections," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1287-1291, July.
  5. Bitzer, Jurgen, 2004. "Commercial versus open source software: the role of product heterogeneity in competition," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 369-381, December.
  6. Bitzer, Jürgen & Schrettl, Wolfram & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2006. "Intrinsic Motivation versus Signaling in Open Source Software Development," Working Papers 06-7, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
  7. Bliss, Christopher & Nalebuff, Barry, 1984. "Dragon-slaying and ballroom dancing: The private supply of a public good," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1-2), pages 1-12, November.
  8. Justin Pappas Johnson, 2002. "Open Source Software: Private Provision of a Public Good," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 637-662, December.
  9. Berger, Helge & Hefeker, Carsten, 2004. "One country, one vote? Labor market structure and voting rights in the ECB," Discussion Papers 2004/10, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
  10. Hendricks, Ken & Weiss, Andrew & Wilson, Charles A, 1988. "The War of Attrition in Continuous Time with Complete Information," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 29(4), pages 663-80, November.
  11. Hertel, Guido & Niedner, Sven & Herrmann, Stefanie, 2003. "Motivation of software developers in Open Source projects: an Internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1159-1177, July.
  12. David P. Myatt & Chris Wallace, 2002. "Equilibrium Selection and Public Good Provision," Economics Series Working Papers 103, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  13. Lindenberg, Siegwart, 2001. "Intrinsic Motivation in a New Light," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2-3), pages 317-42.
  14. Bitzer, Jurgen & Schroder, Philipp J.H., 2005. "Bug-fixing and code-writing: The private provision of open source software," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 389-406, July.
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Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Free, and yet better than costly goods: open source software
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2008-03-19 23:06:00
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Cited by:
  1. Bitzer, Jürgen & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2005. "The Impact of Entry and Competition by Open Source Software on Innovation," Working Papers 2005-12, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Management.
  2. Bitzer, Jurgen & Schroder, Philipp J.H., 2005. "Bug-fixing and code-writing: The private provision of open source software," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 389-406, July.
  3. Francesco Rullani, 2005. "The Debate and the Community. “Reflexive Identity” in the FLOSS Community," LEM Papers Series 2005/18, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
  4. Bitzer, Jürgen & Geishecker, Ingo, 2010. "Who contributes voluntarily to OSS? An investigation among German IT employees," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 165-172, February.
  5. Marcello Basili & Antonio Nicita & Maria Alessandra Rossi, 2008. "Contracts and Motivations. The Case of Open Source," Department of Economics University of Siena 544, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
  6. Bitzer, Jurgen, 2004. "Commercial versus open source software: the role of product heterogeneity in competition," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 369-381, December.
  7. Kubiszewski, Ida & Farley, Joshua & Costanza, Robert, 2010. "The production and allocation of information as a good that is enhanced with increased use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1344-1354, April.
  8. Celine Schulz & Stefan Wagner, 2008. "Outlaw Community Innovations," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(03), pages 399-418.
  9. Ghafele, Roya & Gibert, Benjamin, 2012. "Efficiency through openness: the economic value proposition of open source software," MPRA Paper 38088, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  10. Egon Franck & Carola Jungwirth & Benno Luthiger, 2005. "Motivation und Engagement beim OSS-Programmieren- Eine empirische Analyse," Working Papers 0036, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  11. David, Paul A. & Shapiro, Joseph S., 2008. "Community-based production of open-source software: What do we know about the developers who participate?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 364-398, December.
  12. Wolfram Schrettl, 2007. "Warsh, D: Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations. A Story of Economic Discovery," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 313-318, April.
  13. Stephen M. Maurer & Suzanne Scotchmer, 2006. "Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm," NBER Working Papers 12148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  14. Jürgen Bitzer & Philipp J.H. Schröder, 2005. "The Impact of Entry and Competition by Open Source Software on Innovation Activity," Industrial Organization 0512001, EconWPA.
  15. Noriaki Matsushima & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2012. "Private Provision of Public Goods that are Complements for Private Goods: Application to Open Source Software Developments," ISER Discussion Paper 0830, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
  16. Tuba Bakici & Esteve Almirall & Jonathan Wareham, 2011. "Motives for Participation in On-Line Open Innovation Platforms," DRUID Working Papers 11-14, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
  17. Schulz, Celine, 2006. "The Secret to Successful User Communities: An Analysis of Computer Associates’ User Groups," Discussion Papers in Business Administration 1257, University of Munich, Munich School of Management.
  18. Riccardo Leoncini & Francesco Rentocchini & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2008. "You Won the Battle. What about the War? A Model of Competition between Proprietary and Open Source Software," Department of Economics Working Papers 0811, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
  19. repec:old:wpaper:321 is not listed on IDEAS

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