# The Entrainment of Task Allocation and Release Cycles in Open Source Software Development

> Task allocation and release rhythms in open-source projects become entrained over time. The coupling can be measured and re-tested once algorithmic contributors join.

- Venue: MIS Quarterly 48(1), 67–94 (2024)
- Transfer: Task allocation and release rhythms in open-source projects become entrained over time. The coupling can be measured and re-tested once algorithmic contributors join.
- Contribution: My role: designed, built and ran the digital trace data pipeline (collection, reconciliation, event sequences); contributed to interpreting the findings on developer behaviour and to the manuscript.
- Authors: Lindberg, A., Schecter, A., Berente, N., Hennel, P., Lyytinen, K.
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2023/16789

## Study

Relational event modelling of eight open-source projects (1,169,489 actions across 93 major releases) shows how task allocation and release cycles become entrained. The study identifies three task-allocation mechanisms: developer–issue inertia, developer contribution frequency and issue popularity.

Before a major release, projects mobilise and spread work more broadly. After a release, a longer clean-up phase concentrates work among developers who were very active recently.

## Why it matters in practice

Release rhythm is not only a planning decision. It emerges from the coordination routines of the contributors. Measuring it can show when a release cycle drifts.

## Next question

The same coupling can be re-tested once non-human contributors, such as dependency bots, CI agents and AI code reviewers, enter the population. This is the basis of a planned research stream on algorithmic agents in open-source ecosystems.