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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Nicholas Economides (Stern School of Business, NYU); V. Brian Viard (Faculty of Laws, University College London) |
| Abstract: | We test the effect of content availability on Internet adoption across countries. Controlling for the endogeneity of content with respect to the installed base of Internet users and a host of demographic, economic and infrastructure factors, content has a statistically and economically significant effect. Since content is more easily and quickly altered than these other factors, our results suggest that policies promoting content creation will positively affect Internet diffusion even in the short run. Our results also suggest that, given its ubiquity, Internet content is a useful tool to affect social change across countries. Content has a greater effect on adoption in countries with more disparate languages, consistent with its use to overcome linguistic isolation, and in countries with international Internet gateways, suggesting the importance of infrastructure to deliver content. |
| Keywords: | Internet, technology adoption, economic development, two-sided markets,network effects, technology diffusion, language, content |
| JEL: | O30 O57 L86 L96 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1024&r=ict |
| By: | Greenstein, Shane |
| Abstract: | What are the signs of healthy behavior in an innovative industry? This seemingly simple question isn’t so simple to answer in a quickly evolving industry such as the Internet. Commercial behavior resides inside a complex value chain, which is a set of interrelated activities that produces a final product for end users. No single firm controls the value chain, and the quality, price, and user experience arise from the complex interactions between those participants. Moreover, over time many parts of this value chain have undergone innovative improvements, and no reasonable observer expects those improvements to cease tomorrow. There is no agreement about which criteria observers and policy makers should use to assess the performance of the commercial Internet. Ever since the commercial Internet first emerged, there have been arguments about how to best organize its value chain to achieve maximum value for the most users. Disagreements have not diminished with time. If anything, this debate has grown shrill as the number of commercial interests and business commentators have grown. This essay makes a novel contribution to this topic. It identifies patterns of healthy commercial behavior indicative of an innovative industry, and illustrates how to observe signs of such behavior in information technology markets, such as the Internet. Stated broadly, the essay identifies healthy behavior that correlates with desirable marketwide outcomes, such as improvement in products, lower prices, new capabilities, or other innovations that lead to productivity improvements among business users. |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:reg:wpaper:577&r=ict |
| By: | Yoo, Christopher S. |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, the Internet has undergone an extensive re-ordering of its topology that has resulted in increased variation in the price and quality of its services. Innovations such as private peering, multihoming, secondary peering, server farms, and content delivery networks have caused the Internet’s traditionally hierarchical architecture to be replaced by one that is more heterogeneous. Relatedly, network providers have begun to employ an increasingly varied array of business arrangements and pricing. This variation has been interpreted by some as network providers attempting to promote their self interest at the expense of the public. In fact, these changes reflect network providers’ attempts to reduce cost, manage congestion, and maintain quality of service. Current policy proposals to constrain this variation risk harming these beneficial developments. |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:reg:wpaper:578&r=ict |
| By: | Aline Chiabai; Dirk Rübbelke; Lisa Maurer |
| Abstract: | Whether Information and Communication Technology (ICT) constitutes a threat or a cure to environment´s deterioration is controversially discussed. Empirical evidence on the impacts of ICT is rare, so that generalisable lessons can be drawn is sparse. This study addresses exactly this critique by providing empirical results on the role of ICT in research for environmental sustainability. Application of ICT in research is generally regarded as a way to exploit such technology in favour of the environment. Our analysis shows that the use of ICT in environmental research is of great importance in the scientific community, but it can also play a crucial role in the policy context, as well as in the business sector.<br /> |
| Keywords: | Information and Communication Technology (ICT), biodiversity, climate change, energy efficiency, environmental research, natural resources, sustainability |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcc:wpaper:2010-18&r=ict |
| By: | Jin, W L; Wang, Bruce |
| Abstract: | The connectivity of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANets) can be affected by the special distribution patterns, usually dependent and non-uniform, of vehicles in a transportation network. In this study, we introduce a new framework for computing the connectivity in a VANet for continuous distribution patterns of communication nodes on a line in a transportation network. Such distribution patterns can be estimated from traffic densities obtained through loop detectors or other detectors. When communication nodes follow homogeneous Poisson distributions, we obtain a new closed-form solution to connectivity; when distribution patterns of communication nodes are given by spatial renewal processes, we derive an approximate closedform solution to the connectivity; and when communication nodes follow non-homogeneous Poisson distributions, we propose a recursive model of connectivity. For a shock-wave traffic, we demonstrate the consistency between analytical results with those simulated with ns-2, acommunication simulator. With the developed models, we also discuss the impacts on connectivity of road-side stations and different distribution patterns of vehicles. Given continuous traffic conditions, the connectivity model could be helpful for designing routing protocols in VANets and implementing vehicle-infrastructure integration systems. Limitations and future research related to this study are discussed in the conclusion section. |
| Keywords: | Vehicular ad hoc networks, Inter-vehicle communications, Instantaneous connectivity |
| Date: | 2010–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:uctcwp:1602026&r=ict |
| By: | Haucap, Justus; Heimeshoff, Ulrich; Stühmeier, Torben |
| Abstract: | This paper studies competition in the German market for mobile telecommunications, motivated by recent suggestions that T-Mobile and Vodafone possess a position of collective dominance. Allegedly, their position of joint dominance is secured through a combination of first-mover advantages and discrimination between on-net and off-net prices. While our qualitative analysis remains inconclusive, as some factors tend to favour collusion while others make collusion more difficult to sustain, our empirical analysis suggests that T-Mobile and Vodafone cannot act independently of their smaller rivals, but that they are disciplined by their smaller competitors' offerings. -- |
| Keywords: | Wettbewerb,Mobilfunk,Telekommunikation,kollektive Marktbeherrschung |
| JEL: | L13 L41 L96 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:diceop:04&r=ict |