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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Lendle, Andreas; Olarreaga, Marcelo; Schropp, Simon; Vezina, Pierre-Louis |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the impact of distance, a standard proxy for trade costs, on eBay and offline international trade flows. It considers the same set of 62 countries and the same basket of goods for both types of transactions, and finds the effect of distance to be on average 65 percent smaller on the eBay online platform than offline. Using interaction variables, this difference is explained by a reduction of information and trust frictions enabled through online technology. The analysis estimates the welfare gains from a reduction in offline frictions to the level prevailing online at 29 percent on average. Remote countries that are little known, with weak institutions, high levels of income inequality, inefficient ports, and little internet penetration benefit the most, as online markets help overcome government and offline market failures. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Common Carriers Industry,Free Trade,E-Business,Trade Law |
| Date: | 2012–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6253&r=ict |
| By: | Atif, Syed Muhammad; Endres, James; Macdonald, James |
| Abstract: | Broadband infrastructure facilitates the generation and distribution of decentralised information and ideas in a knowledge economy comprising of markets that rely on information as an input. This paper analyses the effect of broadband penetration on output per capita by estimating a static fixed effects model and a basic linear dynamic model using an annual panel of 31 OECD countries over a period from 1998 to 2010. The results suggest that broadband penetration has had a positive impact on economic growth, and a 10 percent increase in the growth of broadband penetration will raise economic growth per employee by approximately 0.035 percentage points. The conclusion adds further weight to calls for Governments to adopt policies that accelerate broadband penetration and promote investment in broadband infrastructure. -- |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Growth,Broadband,OECD |
| JEL: | O11 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:65419&r=ict |
| By: | Wojtek Przepiorka (University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | Results from two field experiments which were designed to identify possible ethnic discrimination on a German internet auction platform are discussed. A first set of results is produced by a secondary analysis of an earlier experiment. The second experiment additionally tests whether costly signals can help to overcome trust problems between buyers and sellers in online markets. The evidence is rather mixed with respect to ethnic discrimination, and it does not support the signaling hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, Costly signaling, Trust, Online market, Field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 D82 J15 L81 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cex:dpaper:2012002&r=ict |
| By: | Temel, Tugrul; Kinlay, Dorjee |
| Abstract: | This study seeks to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing information system formation and performance. Our conceptual framework incorporates three complementary methods, which constitute the methodology developed. The first method proposes an approach to analyze the effects on the information system formation and performance of macro-level institutions that directly or indirectly shape information activities; the second method, to characterize system linkages and identify critical, causal information flow patterns at the meso-level; and the third method, to assess the effectiveness of these linkages and flow patterns considering the organization-level learning and dissemination capacities. With the design of a workshop and a questionnaire, the study fully operationalizes the methodology. The workshop aims to identify priority information flow patterns, while the questionnaire seeks to qualitatively measure the organizational learning and dissemination capacities. Finally, we present a roadmap for a full-fletch assessment of information system. This map puts the assessment in perspective, linking the findings from the three methods with the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) approach. This way, the proposed methodology incorporates the SCP approach that allows the assessment of system performance. |
| Keywords: | information systems; system formation and performance; institutional and information flow analysis |
| JEL: | D02 D83 D85 |
| Date: | 2012–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42263&r=ict |
| By: | Jason Chan (Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences (IOMS), NYU Stern Business School); Anindya Ghose (Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences (IOMS), NYU Stern Business School) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how the expansion of Craigslist into different states over a 11 year period in the United States affected the incidence of HIV. Using a natural experiment setup, we identify the effects of Craigslist's entry on HIV trends by exploiting the variations across states and time. After controlling for extraneous factors, our results show that Craigslist's entry leads to a 19.8 percent increase in HIV cases, which maps out to an average of 158.7 cases for a state in a year. The analyses further suggest that non-market related casual sex serves as the underlying mechanism driving the increase in HIV cases, while paid transactions (e.g., escort services and prostitution) solicited on the site do not influence HIV trends. The increases in HIV cases as a result of Craigslist entry are estimated to impose treatment costs of over $118 million annually on the U.S. healthcare system. Study implications and limitations are discussed. |
| Keywords: | HIV, Entry, Online Platforms, Public Health |
| JEL: | C23 D83 I18 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1207&r=ict |
| By: | Atif, Syed Muhammad; Endres, James; Macdonald, James |
| Abstract: | Broadband infrastructure facilitates the generation and distribution of decentralised information and ideas in a knowledge economy comprising of markets that rely on information as an input. This paper analyses the effect of broadband penetration on output per capita by estimating a static fixed effects model and a basic linear dynamic model using an annual panel of 31 OECD countries over a period from 1998 to 2010. The results suggest that broadband penetration has had a positive impact on economic growth, and a 10 percent increase in the growth of broadband penetration will raise economic growth per employee by approximately 0.035 percentage points. The conclusion adds further weight to calls for Governments to adopt policies that accelerate broadband penetration and promote investment in broadband infrastructure. |
| Keywords: | OECD; Broadband; Endogenous Growth Theory |
| JEL: | O11 C23 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42177&r=ict |