Understanding the Motivations, Participation, and Performance of Open Source Software Developers: A Longitudinal Study of the Apache Projects
Abstract
Understanding what motivates participation is a central theme in the research on open source software (OSS) development. Our study contributes by revealing how the different motivations of OSS developers are interrelated, how these motivations influence participation leading to performance, and how past performance influences subsequent motivations. Drawing on theories of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, we develop a theoretical model relating the motivations, participation, and performance of OSS developers. We evaluate our model using survey and archival data collected from a longitudinal field study of software developers in the Apache projects. Our results reveal several important findings. First, we find that developers’ motivations are not independent but rather are related in complex ways. Being paid to contribute to Apache projects is positively related to developers’ status motivations but negatively related to their use-value motivations. Perhaps surprisingly, we find no evidence of diminished intrinsic motivation in the presence of extrinsic motivations; rather, status motivations enhance intrinsic motivations. Second, we find that different motivations have an impact on participation in different ways. Developers’ paid participation and status motivations lead to above-average contribution levels, but use-value motivations lead to below-average contribution levels, and intrinsic motivations do not significantly impact average contribution levels. Third, we find…
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Roberts et al. (2006)'s study of the Apache collaboration shows that signaling benefits grow stronger as workers rise in rank.
“Roberts et al. (2006)'s study of the Apache collaboration shows that signaling benefits grow stronger as workers rise in rank.”
From Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm (2006) · cites this paper as Roberts et al. (2006)
High status Apache volunteers contribute more code than other members.
“For example, Roberts et al. (2006) find that high status Apache volunteers contribute more code than other members.”
From Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm (2006) · cites this paper as Roberts et al. (2006)
Intrinsic motivations are a statistically insignificant predictor of how much software Apache volunteers contribute.
“For example, Roberts et al. (2006) find that intrinsic motivations are a statistically insignificant predictor of how much software Apache volunteers contribute.”
From Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm (2006) · cites this paper as Roberts et al. (2006)
Salary is an important predictor of effort.
“Similarly, Roberts et al . (2006) show that salary is an important predictor of effort.”
From Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm (2006) · cites this paper as Roberts et al . (2006)
Focusing on the PR review process is particularly well suited to OSS contexts, where code is continuously developed, reviewed, and deployed into production with rapid and frequent version updates.
“Focusing on the PR review process is particularly well suited to OSS contexts, where code is continuously developed, reviewed, and deployed into production, often with rapid and frequent version updates (Roberts et al. 2006, Medappa et al. 2023).”
From AI-Assisted Programming Decreases the Productivity of Experienced Developers by Increasing the Technical Debt and Maintenance Burden (2025) · cites this paper as Roberts et al. 2006
Expected benefits of OSS contribution include signaling skills to the labor market, building reputation within the community, and deriving intrinsic satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
“Expected benefits include signaling skills to the labor market, building reputation within the community, and deriving intrinsic satisfaction and a sense of achievement (Lakhani and Wolf 2003, Roberts et al. 2006, Hann et al. 2013).”
From The Impact of Generative AI on Collaborative Open-Source Software Development: Evidence from GitHub Copilot  (2024) · cites this paper as Roberts et al. 2006
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- Authors
- Roberts, J. A., Hann, I.-H., & Slaughter, S. A.
- Affiliations
- Duquesne University (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- ORCID
- Hann, Il-Horn
- Venue
- Management Science
- Published
- 2006-07
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 984-999
- ISSN
- 0025-1909 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5501
- OpenAlex
- W2096547436
- Cited by
- 1,024
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 69 · 2013: 68 · 2012: 65
- FWCI
- 85.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Management Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Open Source Software Innovations
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Software Engineering Techniques and Practices
- Social Sciences › Communication › Knowledge Management and Sharing
- Keywords
- open source software, developer motivation, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, status motivation, performance ranking, Apache projects, longitudinal study, motivation-performance relationship
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