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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver; Köhler, Karoline Henrike |
| Abstract: | Dominant or apparently dominant internet platform increasingly become subject to both antitrust investigations and further-reaching political calls for regulation. While Google is currently in the focus of the discussion, the next candidate is already on the horizon - the ubiquitous online trading platform Amazon. Competitors and suppliers but also famous economists like Paul Krugman unite in criticizing Amazon's market power and alleged abuse of it. In this paper, we collect the multitude of allegations against Amazon and categorize them according to types of potential anticompetitive conduct or types of market failure. We provide an economic analysis of these allegations based upon economic theory as well as publicly available information and data. As one of our main results, we find that the most severe allegations against Amazon do not hold from an economic perspective and, consequently, do not warrant regulation or other drastic interventions (like breaking the company up). However, several areas of conduct, in particular, the use of best price clauses and the (anti-) competitive interplay of Amazon and the major publishers in the e-book market require competition policy action. The standard antitrust instruments, enriched with modern economic theory, should suffice to disincentivize the identified anticompetitive conduct for now. |
| Keywords: | antitrust,internet,platform economics,media economics,competition policy,innovation,Amazon,Google,e-books,book industry,best-price clauses,abuse of dominance,pricing,regulation |
| JEL: | K21 L41 L42 L81 K23 L50 L82 L12 D40 L25 Z11 B52 L86 M21 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:97&r=ict |
| By: | Mihai, Florin-Constantin; Gnoni, Maria-Grazia |
| Abstract: | Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment management (E-waste or WEEE) is a crucial issue in the solid waste management sector with global interconnections between well-developed, transitional and developing countries. Consumption society and addiction to technology dictate the daily life in high and middle-income countries where population consumes large amounts of EEE products (electrical and electronic equipment) which sooner become e-waste. This fraction is a fast-growing waste stream which needs special treatment and management due to the toxic potential of public health and environment. On the other hand, the e-waste contains valuable materials which may be recovered (precious metals, Cu) reused and recycled (metals, plastics) by various industries mitigating the consumption of natural resources. |
| Keywords: | waste management; WEEE; e-waste, recycling, electronics, sustainability |
| JEL: | F10 F64 I15 I18 J18 K32 O14 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72284&r=ict |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Jacinta C. Nwachukwu (Coventry University) |
| Abstract: | The study assesses the role of mobile phones and mobile banking in decreasing inequality in 52 African countries. The empirical procedure involves first, examining the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration and then investigating the contribution of mobile banking services in this relationship. The findings suggest an equalizing income-redistributive effect of ‘mobile phone penetration’ and ‘mobile banking’, with a higher income-equalizing effect from mobile banking compared to mobile phone penetration. Poverty alleviation channels explaining this difference in inequality mitigating propensity are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Mobile Phones; Shadow Economy; Financial Development; Africa |
| JEL: | E00 G20 L96 O17 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:16/021&r=ict |