Coordination of Joint Search in Distributed Innovation Processes: Lessons from the Effects of Initial Code Release in Open Source Software Development

Abstract

This paper casts light on the role of initial code release for providing coordination of joint search processes, i.e., search processes that involve several agents who search together. We develop hypotheses about the role of initial code release for providing coordination, and for whether development projects remain active. We test these hypotheses on a dataset of 5703 open source software projects registered on SourceForge during a two-year period. We find that initial code release is indeed associated with improved coordination, and a higher chance that software development projects will actually release further code subsequently. We contribute to theory on coordination in joint search, common in distributed innovation settings.

Keywords: artefact, coordination, open source, distributed innovation, innovation process, search process

JEL Classification: O32, O33, M21