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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Bertschek, Irene; Cerquera, Daniel; Klein, Gordon J. |
| Abstract: | The paper provides empirical evidence for the causal impact of broadband Internet on firms' labour productivity and realised process and product innovations. The analysis refers to the early phase of DSL expansion in Germany from 2001 to 2003, when roughly 60 percent of the German firms already used broadband Internet. Identification relies on instrumental variable estimation taking advantage of information on the availability of DSL broadband at the postal code level. The results show that broadband Internet has no impact on firms' labour productivity, whereas it exhibits a positive and significant impact on their innovation activity. -- |
| Keywords: | labour productivity,product and process innovation,broadband Internet |
| JEL: | D22 L23 O31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:86&r=ict |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This research study is the result of a collaboration between the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Internet Society (ISOC) and UNESCO. The study was initially presented at the sixth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on 27 September 2011 in Nairobi (Kenya).<P> The study confirms that local content, Internet infrastructure and access prices are three inter-related elements. In particular: (i) better connectivity is significantly related to higher levels of local digital content creation; (ii) countries with more Internet infrastructure (at all income levels) are also countries which produce more local digital content as measured by Wikipedia entries and by web pages under a given country-code, top-level domain; (iii) countries with more international connectivity have lower domestic broadband prices, and countries with better domestic infrastructure have lower international bandwidth prices.<P> The study concludes that three key lines of policy considerations evolve out of this research: (i) fostering content development, (ii) expanding connectivity, and (iii) promoting Internet access competition. |
| Date: | 2013–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:217-en&r=ict |
| By: | Estelle Malavolti (Toulouse School of economics enac-Leea); Frederic Marty (Ofce sciences-po) |
| Abstract: | Firms operating in two-sided markets have to integrate in their optimal pricing structure the existence of indirect externalities across groups of consumers. Beyond direct externalities network effects,such markets are characterized by the increasing value of the platform for the users on one side with the number on the other side. As for Internet search platforms such as Google, their value for advertisers depends on the number of users and especially of precisely targeted ones. As a consequence, the optimal price structure in a two-sided market cannot be symmetrical. In other words, the price structure is not neutral and has to take into account such linkages between these two groups of users. From an economic point of view, it may make sense to impose no charge for the group that generates the most valuable externalities. With antitrust inquiries, such specificity imposes to consider simultaneously both sides of the markets. Otherwise, the risk of false negative decisions may arise. On one side the pricing strategy might be interpreted as a predatory practice and on the other side as an exploitative abuse. As the number and the loyalty of users on one side is an essential input to competition between platforms on the other side, it might be rational to subsidize them by acquiring exclusive rights on some valuable contents and to implement bundling and tying strategies. The main risk lies in some market foreclosure. The market might evolve towards vertically integrated ecosystems, e.g. a silos model of competition. Furthermore, competition authorities have to define a sound economics-based theory of harm to disentangle practices that reduce consumer welfare (by increasing switching costs) from ones that might be finally welfare-enhancing. The issue of remedies arises inexorably from this point. Our paper sheds light on these industrial economics and competition law issues. |
| Keywords: | Two-sided markets, Internet search markets, exclusionary practices, market foreclosure, remedies |
| JEL: | K21 L12 L41 L86 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1301&r=ict |
| By: | Alan Gelb and Julia Clark |
| Abstract: | Formal identification is a prerequisite for development in the modern world. The inability to authenticate oneself when interacting with the state—or with private entities such as banks—inhibits access to basic rights and services, including education, formal employment, financial services, voting, social transfers, and more. Unfortunately, underdocumentation is pervasive in the developing world. Civil registration systems are often absent or cover only a fraction of the population. In contrast, people in rich countries are almost all well identified from birth. This “identity gap” is increasingly recognized as not only a symptom of underdevelopment but as a factor that makes development more difficult and less inclusive. Many programs now aim to provide individuals in poor countries with more robust official identity, often in the context of the delivery of particular services. Many of these programs use digital biometric identification technology that distinguish physical or behavioral features, such as fingerprints or iris scans, to help “leapfrog” traditional paper-based identity systems. The technology cannot do everything, but recent advances enable it to be used far more accurately than previously, to provide identification (who are you?) and authentication (are you who you claim to be?). Technology costs are falling rapidly, and it is now possible to ensure unique identity in populations of at least several hundred million with little error. This paper surveys 160 cases where biometric identification has been used for economic, political, and social purposes in developing countries. About half of these cases have been supported by donors. Recognizing the need for more rigorous assessments and more open data on performance, the paper draws some conclusions about identification and development and the use of biometric technology. Some cases suggest large returns to its use, with potential gains in inclusion, efficiency, and governance. In others, costly technology has been ineffective or, combined with the formalization of identity, has increased the risk of exclusion. One primary conclusion is that identification should be considered as a component of development policy, rather than being seen as just a cost on a program-by-program basis. Within such a strategic framework, countries and donors can work to close the identification gap, and in the process improve both inclusion and the efficiency of many programs |
| Keywords: | biometric identification, civil registry, voter registration, G2P, financial inclusion, transfers. |
| JEL: | H80 J10 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:315&r=ict |
| By: | Daniel Halbheer (Department of Business Administration (IBW), University of Zurich); Florian Stahl (Department of Business Administration (IBW), University of Zurich); Oded Koenigsberg (Department of Marketing, London Business School); Donald R. Lehmann (Marketing, Columbia Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies content strategies for online publishers of digital information goods. It examines sampling strategies and compares their performance to paid content and free content strategies. A sampling strategy, where some of the content is offered for free and consumers are charged for access to the rest, is known as a “metered model” in the newspaper industry. We analyze optimal decisions concerning the size of the sample and the price of the paid content when sampling serves the dual purpose of disclosing content quality and generating advertising revenue. We show in a reduced-form model how the publisher’s optimal ratio of advertising revenue to sales revenue is linked to characteristics of both the content market and the advertising market. We assume that consumers learn about content quality from the free samples in a Bayesian fashion. Surprisingly, we find that it can be optimal for the publisher to generate advertising revenue by offering free samples even when sampling reduces both prior quality expectations and content demand. In addition, we show that it can be optimal for the publisher to refrain from revealing quality through free samples when advertising effectiveness is low and content quality is high. |
| Keywords: | Information Goods, Sampling, Content Pricing, Advertising, Dorfman-Steiner Condition, Pricing, Product Quality, Bayesian Learning, News Websites |
| JEL: | L11 L15 L21 M21 M30 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zrh:wpaper:329&r=ict |