近年來，對於在開放式平台上協作行為的關注日漸提升。本研究基於社會資本理論與社會交換理論發展研究架構，目的在於試圖了解互惠性如何促使知識協作專案中知識尋求者與知識供給者之間的良性互動。本實徵研究的理論貢獻在於行為紀錄分析以及整合社會互動面向至知識管理的討論中。而實務貢獻反映在使用者產生內容對於開放式平台極其重要，故平台管理者應鼓勵平台中加入社會互動方面的設計。經妥善設計的互惠機制可促進知識貢獻行為，豐富開放式平台的知識蘊藏。

In recent years, considerable concern has arisen over the collaboration on open platforms. The purpose of this study is to realize how reciprocity would facilitate the positive interaction between the knowledge seekers and the knowledge providers in the knowledge collaboration projects. Social network theory and social exchange theory were integrated to construct the research model. On theoretical contribution, the behavior records were examined in this empirical study and the aspect of social interaction was integrated into the discussion of knowledge management. On managerial contribution, user generated content is important to open platforms, so executives should encourage the social design (i.e. the design of social interaction aspect). A well-designed reciprocity mechanism would result in more knowledge contribution, improving the knowledge base on open platforms.

Table of Contents
Abstract I
摘要 II
Acknowledgments III
Table of Contents IV
List of Figures V
List of Tables VI
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Research background 1
1.2 Research niche 2
1.3 Research subject – GitHub 3
1.4 Research purpose 4
1.5 Research value 4
2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development 7
2.1 The knowledge spiral on the social coding platform 7
2.2 Social interaction and knowledge contribution 7
2.3 Social exchange theory 9
3. Method 12
3.1 Research framework 12
3.2 Data source 22
3.3 Sampling 22
3.4 Procedure 23
4. Result 24
4.1 The main result of this study 24
4.2 The exploratory of the moderating effect of social network centrality 27
5. Discussion 33
5.1 The relationship between centrality and knowledge contribution 33
5.2 The relationship between team size and knowledge contribution 34
5.3 Reciprocity would have mitigate effect on the dilemma 35
5.4 Reciprocity facilitated the positive cycle 36
6. Conclusion 39
6.1 Findings and contributions 39
6.2 Limitations and suggestions for future research 40
7. References 41
Appendix A – Data details: timeline 43
Appendix B – Sampling conditions 49
Appendix C – Social network graph 53

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