A Dynamic Analysis of the Complex Interplay Between Internal and External Networks of Open-source Projects on Innovation Behaviors

Open-source community is a dynamic network of heterogeneous projects with fluid boundaries and complex and changing interactions among them. In turn, inside each project is a collaborator network of various developers. As developers move around different projects, the network structure within (internal network) and between projects (external network) change, reciprocally influencing each other. Past research shows that network structure influences innovation behaviors in open-source projects. Yet, no prior studies have examined dynamic interplay between internal and external networks of open-source projects on innovation behaviors. This research will fill in this gap. In particular, we explore changing pattern of external network embeddedness will influence the effect of tie strength of internal collaborator network on innovation behaviors. To answer our research questions, we collect 360,000 projects from GitHub and its related activities in recent two years. We seek to offer several insights flow for the social network field and open-source innovation literature.