Open Source software, intrinsic motivations and profit-oriented firms. Do not firms practise what they preach?

This paper contributes to the literature by
providing empirical evidence on the incentives of firms that
engage in Open Source activities. Data collected by a survey
on 146 Italian companies supplying OS solutions (Open
Source firms) show that (surprisingly) intrinsic, communitybased
incentives do play a role but are not, in general, put into
practise. The discrepancy between attitudes and behaviours is
investigated and firms adopting more consistent behaviours
are singled out. Our results are in line with the literature on
business models of firms entering the Open Source field.