Synopses & Reviews
As the cost of storing, sharing, and analyzing data has decreased, economic activity has become increasingly digital. But while the effects of digital technology and improved digital communication have been explored in a variety of contexts, the impact on economic activityandmdash;from consumer and entrepreneurial behavior to the ways in which governments determine policyandmdash;is less well understood.
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Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy explores the economic impact of digitization, with each chapter identifying a promising new area of research. The Internet is one of the key drivers of growth in digital communication, and the first set of chapters discusses basic supply-and-demand factors related to access. Later chapters discuss new opportunities and challenges created by digital technology and describe some of the most pressing policy issues. As digital technologies continue to gain in momentum and importance, it has become clear that digitization has features that do not fit well into traditional economic models. This suggests a need for a better understanding of the impact of digital technology on economic activity, and Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy brings together leading scholars to explore this emerging area of research.
Synopsis
New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological advance is likely to be modest.The limitations of new technologies are often not inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of universal service.
Synopsis
Discussion of the policy aspects of new communications technologies and their associated institutions.
Synopsis
The limitations of new technologies are often not inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of universal service.
Synopsis
New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological advance is likely to be modest.
Synopsis
andlt;Pandgt;Discussion of the policy aspects of new communications technologies and their associated institutions.andlt;/Pandgt;
Synopsis
andlt;Pandgt;New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological advance is likely to be modest.The limitations of new technologies are often not inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of universal service.andlt;/Pandgt;
Synopsis
There is a small and growing literature that explores the impact of digitization in a variety of contexts, but its economic consequences, surprisingly, remain poorly understood. This volume aims to set the agenda for research in the economics of digitization, with each chapter identifying a promising area of research. Economics of Digitization identifies urgent topics with research already underway that warrant further exploration from economists. In addition to the growing importance of digitization itself, digital technologies have some features that suggest that many well-studied economic models may not apply and, indeed, so many aspects of the digital economy throw normal economics in a loop. Economics of Digitization will be one of the first to focus on the economic implications of digitization and to bring together leading scholars in the economics of digitization to explore emerging research.
About the Author
Avi Goldfarb is professor of marketing at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a research associate of the NBER.Shane M. Greenstein is the Kellogg Chair in Information Technology and professor of management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a research associate of the NBER.Catherine E. Tucker is the Mark Hyman Jr. Career Development Professor and associate professor of management science at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is a research associate of the NBER.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Avi Goldfarb, Shane M. Greenstein, and Catherine E. Tucker
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I. Internet Supply and Demand
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1. Modularity and the Evolution of the Internet
Timothy Simcoe
Comment: Timothy F. Bresnahan
2. What Are We Not Doing When We Are Online?
Scott Wallsten
Comment: Chris Forman
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II. Digitization, Economic Frictions, and New Markets
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3. The Future of Prediction: How Google Searches Foreshadow Housing Prices and Sales
Lynn Wu and Erik Brynjolfsson
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4. Bayesian Variable Selection for Nowcasting Economic Time Series
Steven L. Scott and Hal R. Varian
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5. Searching for Physical and Digital Media: The Evolution of Platforms for Finding Books
Michael R. Baye, Babur De los Santos, and Matthijs R. Wildenbeest
Comment: Marc Rysman
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6. Ideology and Online News
Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro
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7. Measuring the Effects of Advertising: The Digital Frontier
Randall Lewis, Justin M. Rao, and David H. Reiley
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8. Digitization and the Contract Labor Market: A Research Agenda
Ajay Agrawal, John Horton, Nicola Lacetera, and Elizabeth Lyons
Comment: Christopher Stanton
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9. Some Economics of Private Digital Currency
Joshua S. Gans and Hanna Halaburda
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III. Government Policy and Digitization
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10. Estimation of Treatment Effects from Combined Data: Identification versus Data Security
Tatiana Komarova, Denis Nekipelov, and Evgeny Yakovlev
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11. Information Lost: Will the and#8220;Paradiseand#8221; that Information Promises, to Both Consumer and Firm, be and#8220;Lostand#8221; on Account of Data Breaches? The Epic is Playing Out
Catherine L. Mann
Comment: Amalia R. Miller
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12. Copyright and the Profitability of Authorship: Evidence from Payments to Writers in the Romantic Period
Megan MacGarvie and Petra Moser
Comment: Koleman Strumpf
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13. Understanding Media Markets in the Digital