nep-ict New Economics Papers
on Information and Communication Technologies
Issue of 2008‒10‒21
eight papers chosen by
Walter Frisch
University Vienna

  1. What's in a (Missing) Name? Status and Signaling in Open Standards Development By Tim Simcoe; David Waguespack; Lee Fleming
  2. E-business Development Key Areas By Suchánek, Petr
  3. Are Social Networking Sites a Source of Online Harassment for Teens? Evidence from Survey Data By Anirban Sengupta; Anoshua Chaudhuri;
  4. Energy Power, Digital Infrastructure and Elearning Platforms: Afrrican Experience. By NWAOBI, GODWIN
  5. Trade and Innovation in the Korean Information and Communication Technology Sector By Osanu Onodera; Hann Earl Kim
  6. Consumer Search on the Internet By Babur De los Santos; ;
  7. An Intelligent Knowledge Management System from a Semantic Perspective By Mazilescu, Vasile
  8. Computer Virus Propagation in a Network Organization: The Interplay between Social and Technological Networks By Hsing Kenneth Cheng; Hong Guo;

  1. By: Tim Simcoe (Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto); David Waguespack (Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland); Lee Fleming (Harvard business School)
    Abstract: How much are we influenced by an author's identity? If identity matters, is it because we have a ``taste for status" or because it offers a useful shortcut --- a signal that is correlated with the likely importance of their ideas? This paper presents evidence from a natural experiment that took place at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) --- a community of engineers and computer scientists who develop the protocols used to run the Internet. The results suggest that IETF participants use authors' identity as a signal or filter, paying more attention to proposals from high-status authors, and this has a surprisingly large impact on publication outcomes. There is little evidence of a “taste" for status.
    JEL: L1 O3
    Date: 2008–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0831&r=ict
  2. By: Suchánek, Petr
    Abstract: At present e-business is standard alternative and its development is very fast. E-commerce is subset of e-business. E-commerce is implementation of the business transactions on the internet (internet stores, booking system, and so on). E-business and e-commerce have directly dependence on information and communication technology (ICT). Many conditions have to be satisfied to e-business systems operate all right and bring contribution. The fundamental element is e-business strategy. Aims, procedures, methods, inputs, outputs and the like have to be analyzed in e-business strategy. Individual parts may be under consideration and analyzed in singles steps or in parallel with regards to contexture. Once of the e-commerce key area is internet stores development. Internet stores are realized as a web sites published on internet. Web sites make possible communication between custom and operators information system. Internet store web sites have to fulfil the quite of number of conditions. Principal aim of the internet store web sites is effort to internet store web sites be displayed in one of the forefront in internet browser after request of user. To this goal for example Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or method of paid references can be used. Both methods are very important for internet marketing and they also can be used together. Data from internet store web sites are computing in firm information system. On this account we have to directly defined dataflow between internet store websites and information system. We can buy software for e-business support from provider or new software can be developed. In both cases we have to pay attention to risk areas. Conditions of successful implementation of e-business in firm are in the end of the article.
    Keywords: e-business; e-commerce; e-business strategy; procedural and technological audit; internet stores; optimization; search engine optimization; paid links; information and communication technologies; return on investment.
    JEL: M31 A19 M21
    Date: 2008
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11061&r=ict
  3. By: Anirban Sengupta (Analysis Group, Inc); Anoshua Chaudhuri (Department of Economics, San Francisco State University, San Francisco);
    Abstract: Media reports on incidences of abuse on the internet, particularly amongst teenagers, are growing at an alarming rate causing much concern among parents of teenagers and legislations aimed at regulating internet use among teenagers. Past studies have found that one in five youth were exposed to sexual solicitation, one in seventeen were harassed or threatened and only a fraction reported these cases while more than 63% reported being upset, embarrassed or stressed as a result of these unwanted contacts. Social networking sites (SNS) have been blamed to be a major source of harassment for teen users. Despite several media reports, there is a serious paucity of research in this area that explicitly identifies risk factors that make teens prone to internet abuse, and strategies for prevention and intervention. This study examines the extent to which internet use and having SNS site memberships result in incidences of stranger contact and online harassment for teens in the United States. We also determine the characteristics of teens that make them more likely to be victims of online harassment. Using parental background information, we also seek to shed light on the relationship between parental awareness and teen abuse on the internet. We use 2006 round of Pew Internet™ American Life Survey for this study. Since data on social networking has been collected fairly recently and we do not have any past information, the limitation of this study is that we cannot draw causal links between internet use and online harassment.
    Keywords: Online harassment, social networking sites (SNS), cyber-bullying, youth risky behaviors
    JEL: I0 L86
    Date: 2008–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0817&r=ict
  4. By: NWAOBI, GODWIN
    Abstract: Information and communication technologies are one of the most pervasive technologies in the world, second only to 'human intelligence' or the human brain. Thus, understanding the factors that determine the diffusion of new technologies across african countries is important to understanding the process of economic development. And whereas, energy is linked with the capacity to perform, the rate at which energy is consumed for the acceleration of the pace of socio-economic activities is regarded as power. Consequently, it will be obvious that the magnitude of the standard of living in any society; the growth and development of such an economy; and its ability to affect the course of events(such as ICT revolution)will be a function of the extent to which its energy(power) resources are developed and utilised. This paper therefore argued for the need to provide assistance in reducing vulnerability and building the capacity of african countries to more widely reap the benefits of the clean development mechanism in areas such as the development of cleaner and renewable energies. Inevitably, this is the critical condition for the sustainability of the emergent e-learning platforms and digital networks in africa.
    Keywords: ICT; learning; elearning; development; energy; power; information; communication; solar; electricity; wind; governance; africa; electronics; telecommunications; internet; digital; satellite; renewable energy; gas turbine; power plants; bandwidth; coal; hydro; biomass; steam; transmission; distribution; utilisation
    JEL: O30 I20 Q40 O33 D80
    Date: 2008–10–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11136&r=ict
  5. By: Osanu Onodera; Hann Earl Kim
    Abstract: This paper is one of five case studies which is a part of a larger project looking at the various effects that trade and investment can have on innovation. This paper studies the effect of trade and investment liberalisation on Korea’s Information and communication technology (ICT) sector and finds that trade and investment have played a crucial role in innovation in the sector. In the initial stages of development, imported capital goods and components, joint ventures, licensing and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) contracts were important sources of technology and exports were key to gain the necessary economies of scale for innovation. Free trade and investment policies in the 1990s and stronger protection of intellectual property rights have led to an increase in R&D and innovation and has led to the transformation of Korea into a knowledge based economy in the recent decade.
    Keywords: Korea, innovation, ICT, intellectual property rights, patents, information and communication technologies, trade reform, Information Technology Agreement
    JEL: O
    Date: 2008–09–26
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:77-en&r=ict
  6. By: Babur De los Santos (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University); ;
    Abstract: This paper uses consumer search data to explain search frictions in online markets, within the context of an equilibrium search model. I use a novel dataset of consumer online browsing and purchasing behavior, which tracks all consumer search prior to each transaction. Using observed search intensities from the online book industry, I estimate search cost distributions that allow for asymmetric consumer sampling. Research on consumer search often assumes a symmetric sampling rule for analytical convenience despite its lack of realism. Search behavior in the online book industry is quite limited: in only 25 percent of the transactions did consumers visit more than one bookstore's website. The industry is characterized by a strong consumer preference for certain retailers. Accounting for unequal consumer sampling halves the search cost estimates from $1.8 to $0.9 per search in the online book industry. Analysis of time spent online suggests substitution between the time consumers spend searching and the relative opportunity cost of their time. Retired people, those with lower education levels, and minorities (with the exception of Hispanics) spent significantly more time searching for a book online. There is a negative relationship between income levels and time spent searching.
    Keywords: search model, non-sequential search, fixed sample search, online markets, book industry
    JEL: L80 L81 D80 D83 L10 L11
    Date: 2008–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0815&r=ict
  7. By: Mazilescu, Vasile
    Abstract: Abstract. Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) are important tools by which organizations can better use information and, more importantly, manage knowledge. Unlike other strategies, knowledge management (KM) is difficult to define because it encompasses a range of concepts, management tasks, technologies, and organizational practices, all of which come under the umbrella of the information management. Semantic approaches allow easier and more efficient training, maintenance, and support knowledge. Current ICT markets are dominated by relational databases and document-centric information technologies, procedural algorithmic programming paradigms, and stack architecture. A key driver of global economic expansion in the coming decade is the build-out of broadband telecommunications and the deployment of intelligent services bundling. This paper introduces the main characteristics of an Intelligent Knowledge Management System as a multiagent system used in a Learning Control Problem (IKMSLCP), from a semantic perspective. We describe an intelligent KM framework, allowing the observer (a human agent) to learn from experience. This framework makes the system dynamic (flexible and adaptable) so it evolves, guaranteeing high levels of stability when performing his domain problem P. To capture by the agent who learn the control knowledge for solving a task-allocation problem, the control expert system uses at any time, an internal fuzzy knowledge model of the (business) process based on the last knowledge model.
    Keywords: knowledge management; fuzzy control; semantic technologies; computational intelligence
    JEL: D81
    Date: 2008–10–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11097&r=ict
  8. By: Hsing Kenneth Cheng (Department of Information Systems & Operations Management, University of Florida); Hong Guo (Department of Information Systems & Operations Management, University of Florida);
    Abstract: This paper proposes a holistic view of a network organization’s computing environment to examine computer virus propagation patterns. We empirically examine a large-scale organizational network consisting of both social network and technological network. By applying information retrieval techniques, we map nodes in the social network to nodes in the technological network to construct the composite network of the organization. We apply social network analysis to study the topologies of social and technological networks in this organization. We statistically test the impact of the interplay between social and technological network on computer virus propagation using a susceptible-infective-recovered epidemic process. We find that computer viruses propagate faster but reach lower level of infection through technological network than through social network, and viruses propagate the fastest and reach the highest level of infection through the composite network. Overlooking the interplay of social network and technological network underestimates the virus propagation speed and the scale of infection.
    Keywords: social network analysis, interplay between social and technological networks, computer viruses
    JEL: C15 D85 C89
    Date: 2008–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0824&r=ict

This nep-ict issue is ©2008 by Walter Frisch. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.