Atkisson, Curtis

This paper explores the extent to which outcomes from action situations at multiple levels drive institutional change in open-source software (OSS) production, using the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) as a case study. Drawing on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD), we develop a novel methodological approach based on Ostrom’s rule-type classification and the Institutional Grammar (IG) to capture institutional change from a micro-level perspective.

We created a longitudinal dataset comprising ASF’s policy documents to identify instances of formal institutional change (i.e., a policy document change). We compare formal changes to discussions and communications by the ASF board (constitutional level) to assess their role in policy change. We also analyze incubation project emails (operational level) to assess OSS production practices. This allows us to identify divergence between rules and rules-in-use. We utilize Ostrom’s rule types (1990) to categorize policy document changes into rules types.. Then, we employ Cosine and Jaccard similarity metrics to quantify changes between document versions. We track shifts in institutional arrangements over time to identify variations in the number and type of institutional statements.

This study contributes to the commons theory by advancing our understanding of institutional change. These insights have important implications for designing institutional arrangements for OSS sustainability. Beyond OSS, the methodological innovations have widespread applicability for using text analysis to study institutional evolution.