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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert |
| Abstract: | In recent years, a plethora of public and private programs in the United States have been created to close the "Digital Divide." Interestingly, however, we know very little about the underlying causes of racial differences in rates of computer and Internet access. In this paper, I use data from the Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the August 2000 Current Population Survey (CPS) to explore this question. Estimates from the CPS indicate that Mexican-Americans are roughly one-half as likely to own a computer and one-third as likely to have Internet access at home than are whites. The black home computer rate is 59 percent of the white rate and the black home Internet access rate is 51 percent of the white rate. Using Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, I find that racial differences in education, income and occupation contribute substantially to the black/white and Mexican-American/white gaps in home computer and Internet access rates. The digital divide between races, however, is not simply an "income divide" as income differences explain only 10 to 30 percent of the gaps in access to technology. I do not find evidence that price or school differences are responsible for the remaining gaps. I find some evidence, however, that language barriers may be important in explaining low rates of computer and Internet access among Mexican-Americans. In recent years, a plethora of public and private programs in the United States have been created to close the "Digital Divide." Interestingly, however, we know very little about the underlying causes of racial differences in rates of computer and Internet access. In this paper, I use data from the Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the August 2000 Current Population Survey (CPS) to explore this question. Estimates from the CPS indicate that Mexican-Americans are roughly one-half as likely to own a computer and one-third as likely to have Internet access at home than are whites. The black home computer rate is 59 percent of the white rate and the black home Internet access rate is 51 percent of the white rate. Using Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, I find that racial differences in education, income and occupation contribute substantially to the black/white and Mexican-American/white gaps in home computer and Internet access rates. The digital divide between races, however, is not simply an "income divide" as income differences explain only 10 to 30 percent of the gaps in access to technology. I do not find evidence that price or school differences are responsible for the remaining gaps. I find some evidence, however, that language barriers may be important in explaining low rates of computer and Internet access among Mexican-Americans. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, ICT, computers, Internet, technology, Digital Divide, Minorities |
| Date: | 2014–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt48h8h99w&r=ict |
| By: | Dyuti Banerjee (Department of Economics, Monash University, Australia); Sougata Poddar (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Law, Auckland University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to analyse the question, whether copyright infringement of digital products like software commonly labelled as piracy impedes innovation. We find the answer depends on the nature of piracy i.e. whether it is end-users or commercial piracy. For end user piracy, copyright infringement does not necessarily impede innovation; in fact it can be shown that it encourages innovation when the pirates are active. However, for commercial piracy, it always impedes innovation which has negative implications on the overall welfare of the society. We show under what conditions the government intervention through IPR protection strategy (like monitoring and imposing a fine to the pirate) can support the copyright holder for higher level of innovation. We find the socially optimally monitoring rate for the government that result in maximum innovation for the copyright holder |
| Keywords: | Innovation; piracy; monitoring; social welfare |
| JEL: | D21 D43 L13 L21 L26 O3 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aut:wpaper:201309&r=ict |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert |
| Abstract: | In contrast to the large and rapidly growing literature on IT investments and firm productivity, we know very little about the role of personal computers in business creation. Using matched data from the 1997-2001 Computer and Internet Usage Supplements to subsequent Outgoing Rotation Group files from the Current Population Survey, I explore the relationship between computer ownership and entrepreneurship. Trends over the past two decades provide some evidence of a positive relationship between home computers and entrepreneurship rates, but the evidence is not clear. In contrast, an analysis of the relationship between computer ownership and entrepreneurship at the individual level provides evidence that individuals who had access to a home computer are substantially more likely to become an entrepreneur over the following 12-15 months. Probit and bivariate probit regressions also provide evidence of a strong positive relationship between computer ownership and entrepreneurship among women, but only limited evidence for men. Further, estimates from the CPS indicate that entrepreneurs who had prior access to home computers create a large variety of types of businesses and not only those in the IT industry. |
| Keywords: | Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences, entrepreneurship, ICT, computers, technology, business creation, self-employment |
| Date: | 2014–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt0nm6x99w&r=ict |
| By: | Bergemann, Dirk (Cowles Foundation, Yale University); Alessandro Bonatti (Sloan School of Management, MIT) |
| Abstract: | We propose a model of data provision and data pricing. A single data provider controls a large database that contains information about the match value between individual consumers and individual firms (advertisers). Advertisers seek to tailor their spending to the individual match value. The data provider prices queries about individual consumers' characteristics (cookies). We determine the equilibrium data acquisition and pricing policies. Advertisers choose positive and/or negative targeting policies. The optimal query price influences the composition of the targeted set. The price of data decreases with the reach of the database and increases with the fragmentation of data sales. |
| Keywords: | Data providers, Data pricing, Selling information, Targeting, Online advertising, Cookies, Media markets |
| JEL: | D44 D82 D83 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1920rr&r=ict |
| By: | Saiki Tsuchiya (Bank of Japan); Shinichi Nishioka (Bank of Japan) |
| Abstract: | This paper quantitatively analyzes how firms' default rates are affected by intangible assets, which play a crucial role in business management but are difficult to assess objectively. We use intangible assets such as firms' technological capability and the qualifications of senior management, for which numerical data from each firm are available. The results are as follows: (1) intangible assets have statistical explanatory power for firms' default rates in addition to financial data; (2) a model that incorporates intangible assets has greater accuracy in estimating default rates than one that incorporates only financial data, and the difference in the accuracy is statistically significant; and (3) the impact of changes in intangible assets on firms' default rates is comparable with that of changes in financial data. Based on our analysis, it may be effective to take into consideration intangible assets to enhance the accuracy in estimating firms' default rates. Therefore, in assessing firms' credit risk, it is important to enhance the information on intangible assets to objectively assess these assets. |
| Keywords: | Estimated default rates; Intangible assets; Logit model; Bootstrap method |
| Date: | 2014–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boj:bojwps:wp14e02&r=ict |