To Assert or Defend My Role as an OSS Developer: How IT Infrastructure Access Changes the Effect of Digital Platform Behavior on Firm Mobility

Increasingly firms seek and employ open source software (OSS) developers using digital platforms (e.g., LinkedIn and GitHub). OSS developers display their skills in a variety of ways on these platforms to attract firms. However, it remains unclear whether all OSS developer behaviors influence an OSS developer’s firm mobility in the same way. This work takes an impression formation lens to understand how OSS developer behaviors enacted in digital platforms lead to firm mobility. Furthermore, we consider how an OSS developer’s access to IT infrastructure may alter these relationships. We propose an archival data study to better understand these relationships. Implications of this study exist for the impression formation theoretical lens, OSS developers, firms that employ them, and the digital platforms that connect the two parties