Why do commercial companies contribute to open source software?

Morten Andersen-Gott, Gheorghita Ghinea and Bendik Bygstad

International Journal of Information Management, 2012, vol. 32, issue 2, 106-117

Abstract: Many researchers have pointed out that the open source movement is an interesting phenomenon that is difficult to explain with conventional economic theories. However, while there is no shortage on research on individuals’ motivation for contributing to open source, few have investigated the commercial companies’ motivations for doing the same. A case study was conducted at three different companies from the IT service industry, to investigate three possible drivers: sale of complimentary services, innovation and opensourcing (outsourcing). We offer three conclusions.

Keywords: Open source software; Commercial; Drivers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ininma:v:32:y:2012:i:2:p:106-117

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2011.10.003

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