nep-ict New Economics Papers
on Information and Communication Technologies
Issue of 2015‒04‒02
three papers chosen by
Walter Frisch
Universität Wien

  1. Net neutrality and inflation of traffic By Peitz, M.; Schütt, F.
  2. The innovative input mix. Assessing the importance of R&D and ICT investments for firm performance in manufacturing and services By Marina Rybalka
  3. Agent-Based E-Commerce and its Contribution to Economy By Isil Karabey; Ugur Guven Adar

  1. By: Peitz, M.; Schütt, F. (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research)
    Abstract: Under strict net neutrality Internet service providers (ISPs) are required to carry<br/>data without any differentiation and at no cost to the content provider. We provide a simple framework with a monopoly ISP to evaluate different net neutrality rules. Content differs in its sensitivity to delay. Content providers can use congestion control techniques to reduce delay for their content, but do not take into account the effect of their decisions on the aggregate volume of traffic. As a result, strict net neutrality often leads to socially inefficient traffic inflation. We show that piece-meal departures from net neutrality, such as transmission fees or prioritization based on sensitivity to delay, do not necessarily improve efficiency. However, allowing the ISP to introduce bandwidth tiering and charge for prioritized delivery can implement the<br/>efficient allocation.
    Keywords: Net neutrality; network congestion; telecommunications,; uality of service
    JEL: L12 L51 L86
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:6019f280-972f-41de-9336-8d7da324cec9&r=ict
  2. By: Marina Rybalka (Statistics Norway)
    Abstract: Business innovation is an important driver of productivity growth. In this paper, I assess the importance of R&D and ICT investment for firm performance in the manufacturing and service industries. Explicitly, I use an extended version of the CDM model that treats ICT together with R&D as the main inputs into innovation and productivity, and test it on a large unbalanced panel data set based on the innovation survey for Norway. Four different types of innovation and the number of patent applications are used as innovation output measures. I find that ICT investment is strongly associated with all types of innovation in both sectors, with the result being strongest for product innovation in manufacturing and for process innovation in service industries. The impact of ICT on patenting is only positive in manufacturing. Overall, ICT seems to be less important than R&D for innovation, but more important for productivity. These results support the proposition that ICT is an important driver of productivity growth. Given the high rate of ICT diffusion in Norway, my results also contribute to explaining what is referred to as the ‘Norwegian productivity puzzle’, i.e. the fact that Norway is one of the most productive economies in the OECD despite having relatively low R&D intensity.
    Keywords: Innovation; ICT; R&D; Productivity; CDM model; Manufacturing and Services
    JEL: D24 L60 L80 O3
    Date: 2015–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:801&r=ict
  3. By: Isil Karabey (ATATURK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGINEERING); Ugur Guven Adar (ATATURK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGINEERING)
    Abstract: Today the importance of e-commerce increases in line with the rise in the number of internet users. The complexity and the excess of information in internet make the use of semantic web in e-commerce mandatory. In practice, semantic web uses agents for economic income. Agents are integrated into e-commerce systems such as B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (Business to Business). So, agents enable the exchange between customers and sellers and allow shopping transaction. Multi-agent systems are generally used in agent-based e-commerce systems. Negotiation and auction gained importance in these multi-agent systems. There are some differences between B2B and B2C agent systems. These differences can be exemplified by some systems such as MIT’s KASBAH or E-bay’s AuctionBot. With these systems, buyers can purchase with the minimum prices and sellers can reach more costumers without advertisement. In this paper, the benefits and challenges of agent based e-commerce is investigated and the contribution of the use of agents in B2B (Business to Business) e-commerce systems to the economy is examined.
    Keywords: e-commerce, agent-based e-commerce systems, multi-agent systems, economic agents.
    JEL: O32 O39
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0802194&r=ict

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