Intrinsic vs. extrinsic incentives in profit–oriented firms supplying Open Source products and services

TLDR: Data collected by a survey conducted on 146 Italian companies supplying OS solutions (Open Source firms) show that (surprisingly) intrinsic, community–based incentives do play a role but are not, in general, put into practise.

Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature on Open Source (OS) software by providing empirical evidence on the incentives of firms that engage in OS activities. Data collected by a survey conducted on 146 Italian companies supplying OS solutions (Open Source firms) show that (surprisingly) intrinsic, community–based incentives do play a role but are not, in general, put into practise. We investigate this discrepancy between attitudes and behaviours and single out groups of firms adopting more consistent behaviours. Our results are in line with the literature on business models of the firms that enter the Open Source field.