Pub Date : 2025-02-14DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101130
Tomaso Duso , Alexander Schiersch
The advent of cloud computing promises to improve the way firms use IT solutions. Firms are expected to replace large and inflexible fixed-cost investments in IT with more targeted, variable spending on cloud solutions. This is also expected to increase firms' productivity by allowing them to quickly adapt their IT infrastructure to their specific needs. We assess this claim using firm-level data provided by the German statistical offices for the years 2014 and 2016, which allows us to observe who the cloud users are. Our analysis explicitly accounts for self-selection into cloud usage within an endogenous treatment regression framework. Municipal broadband availability is used as a plausible exogenous shifter for cloud usage. We show that cloud usage significantly improves labor productivity for large firms, particularly in manufacturing, but we find no effect for small firms.
{"title":"Let's switch to the cloud: Cloud usage and its effect on labor productivity","authors":"Tomaso Duso , Alexander Schiersch","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101130","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The advent of cloud computing promises to improve the way firms use IT solutions. Firms are expected to replace large and inflexible fixed-cost investments in IT with more targeted, variable spending on cloud solutions. This is also expected to increase firms' productivity by allowing them to quickly adapt their IT infrastructure to their specific needs. We assess this claim using firm-level data provided by the German statistical offices for the years 2014 and 2016, which allows us to observe who the cloud users are. Our analysis explicitly accounts for self-selection into cloud usage within an endogenous treatment regression framework. Municipal broadband availability is used as a plausible exogenous shifter for cloud usage. We show that cloud usage significantly improves labor productivity for large firms, particularly in manufacturing, but we find no effect for small firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101130"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143437587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101129
Stefano Colombo , Clara Graziano , Aldo Pignataro
We consider a duopoly model where firms charge personalized prices to the consumers they can recognize and a uniform price to the rest of consumers. We assume that each firm can identify only a fraction of consumers at each point of the Hotelling line. This fraction is determined by two factors, denoted as intensive and extensive margin, that define the degree of accuracy and the extension of the information respectively. We show that profits are non-monotonic in the size of the two margins and we characterize under which information conditions the firms’ profits are maximized. Finally, we provide some policy implications concerning the protection of consumers. In particular we show that when firms face restrictions in collecting information so that their competition is prevented, consumers surplus is maximized when personalized and uniform prices coexist.
{"title":"Personalized pricing with imperfect customer recognition","authors":"Stefano Colombo , Clara Graziano , Aldo Pignataro","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We consider a duopoly model where firms charge personalized prices to the consumers they can recognize and a uniform price to the rest of consumers. We assume that each firm can identify only a fraction of consumers at each point of the Hotelling line. This fraction is determined by two factors, denoted as intensive and extensive margin, that define the degree of accuracy and the extension of the information respectively. We show that profits are non-monotonic in the size of the two margins and we characterize under which information conditions the firms’ profits are maximized. Finally, we provide some policy implications concerning the protection of consumers. In particular we show that when firms face restrictions in collecting information so that their competition is prevented, consumers surplus is maximized when personalized and uniform prices coexist.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101129"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143387909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-07DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101128
Lynne Pepall , Daniel Richards
We develop a model of horizontal differentiation in which firms compete in both price and advertising where the latter adds value to consumption of the advertised product. Targeted advertising means not only that advertising is sent to specific individuals but also that the message content of such advertising is customized. As targeted advertising becomes less costly, market concentration and prices both increase. In equilibria where all consumers receive value-enhancing ads, consumer surplus rises. However, if targeting is incomplete, some consumers will be worse off. In some instances, these losses may be sufficiently large that total consumer surplus declines as well.
{"title":"Targeted advertising, concentration, and consumer welfare","authors":"Lynne Pepall , Daniel Richards","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We develop a model of horizontal differentiation in which firms compete in both price and advertising where the latter adds value to consumption of the advertised product. Targeted advertising means not only that advertising is sent to specific individuals but also that the message content of such advertising is customized. As targeted advertising becomes less costly, market concentration and prices both increase. In equilibria where all consumers receive value-enhancing ads, consumer surplus rises. However, if targeting is incomplete, some consumers will be worse off. In some instances, these losses may be sufficiently large that total consumer surplus declines as well.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101128"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143421157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101127
Daniele Condorelli , Jorge Padilla
Periodic investment in expanding the capacity of telecommunication networks is required to meet growing demand for data-intensive content. Telecommunication companies monetise deployed capacity by offering access to consumers, but complementary content providers capture a growing share of industry profits. As a consequence, network operators may invest suboptimally in capacity. We make this observation within a model where access and content are complementary products but capacity (maximum serviceable demand) is determined by costly investments of the access and content providers. We demonstrate how having content providers contribute a fair share of the infrastructure cost could resolve the externality problem, when the least costly way to meet capacity demands is by additional investments in the telecommunication networks rather than in reducing the bandwidth demand of content.
{"title":"Fair-share payments for Network Investments","authors":"Daniele Condorelli , Jorge Padilla","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Periodic investment in expanding the capacity of telecommunication networks is required to meet growing demand for data-intensive content. Telecommunication companies monetise deployed capacity by offering access to consumers, but complementary content providers capture a growing share of industry profits. As a consequence, network operators may invest suboptimally in capacity. We make this observation within a model where access and content are complementary products but capacity (maximum serviceable demand) is determined by costly investments of the access and content providers. We demonstrate how having content providers contribute a fair share of the infrastructure cost could resolve the externality problem, when the least costly way to meet capacity demands is by additional investments in the telecommunication networks rather than in reducing the bandwidth demand of content.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101127"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101126
Razi Farukh , Matthias Heinz , Anna Kerkhof , Heiner Schumacher
Do news outlets present the topic of migration in an overly positive or negative manner, or do they provide a neutral and holistic perspective on the topic? To study the visual bias of news media in the context of migration, we collect and code migration-related pictures that news outlets publish and – to establish a benchmark – compare them to the pictures that pro- and anti-migration ideological campaigns use in promotion materials. We find that, during the 2015-16 migration crisis, news outlets in Germany adopt differentiated attitudes to migration that largely follow their political orientation. For most news outlets, the attitude to migration is closer to pro- than to anti-migration campaigns. All news outlets except one tabloid newspaper maintain their attitude even when consumers become more critical of migration over time. Further, we conduct an international comparison and find that attitudes to migration are significantly more negative in the Hungarian than in the German market for news.
{"title":"Attitudes to migration and the market for news","authors":"Razi Farukh , Matthias Heinz , Anna Kerkhof , Heiner Schumacher","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Do news outlets present the topic of migration in an overly positive or negative manner, or do they provide a neutral and holistic perspective on the topic? To study the visual bias of news media in the context of migration, we collect and code migration-related pictures that news outlets publish and – to establish a benchmark – compare them to the pictures that pro- and anti-migration ideological campaigns use in promotion materials. We find that, during the 2015-16 migration crisis, news outlets in Germany adopt differentiated attitudes to migration that largely follow their political orientation. For most news outlets, the attitude to migration is closer to pro- than to anti-migration campaigns. All news outlets except one tabloid newspaper maintain their attitude even when consumers become more critical of migration over time. Further, we conduct an international comparison and find that attitudes to migration are significantly more negative in the Hungarian than in the German market for news.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101126"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101115
Rufus Rock, Ilan Strauss, Tim O'Reilly, Mariana Mazzucato
We investigate Amazon's ability to direct user clicks to more visually prominent search results, even as quality declines with the increasing prevalence of sponsored advertising products. We analyze product results from over 2,000 Amazon Marketplace search queries to estimate how a top three most clicked product's features (price and quality) and screen placement influence a user's clicks. Our econometric results show that the position of a product search result (“position bias”), adjusted for its relative prominence on the screen, strongly shapes whether a user clicks on it. Within the top five search results, where typically four are advertisements, users exhibit decreased sensitivity to a product's relevance or pricing. This allows Amazon's sponsored ads to leverage product prominence as a mechanism for rent extraction from users and producers. Regulatory frameworks might limit platforms from exploiting consumers' satisficing behaviour online, including via moderating excessive advertising in algorithmic search results.
{"title":"Behind the clicks: Can Amazon allocate user attention as it pleases?","authors":"Rufus Rock, Ilan Strauss, Tim O'Reilly, Mariana Mazzucato","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate Amazon's ability to direct user clicks to more visually prominent search results, even as quality declines with the increasing prevalence of sponsored advertising products. We analyze product results from over 2,000 Amazon Marketplace search queries to estimate how a top three most clicked product's features (price and quality) and screen placement influence a user's clicks. Our econometric results show that the position of a product search result (“position bias”), adjusted for its relative prominence on the screen, strongly shapes whether a user clicks on it. Within the top five search results, where typically four are advertisements, users exhibit decreased sensitivity to a product's relevance or pricing. This allows Amazon's sponsored ads to leverage product prominence as a mechanism for rent extraction from users and producers. Regulatory frameworks might limit platforms from exploiting consumers' satisficing behaviour online, including via moderating excessive advertising in algorithmic search results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101115"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142747520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101116
Ritika Jain , Tirtha Chatterjee
We revisit the issue of declining female labour force participation in India by investigating the role of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption. Given that ICT has been rapidly penetrating in India in the past few decades, we explore the impact of ICT ownership and use on female labour market behaviour. We use a nationally representative survey, the India Human Development Survey and estimate instrumental variable regression models and find that ICT adoption increases the likelihood of female employment. Our results show that the positive impact of ICT adoption is limited to individuals who are salaried or are self-employed. Further, we find that ICT adoption increases (decreases) the likelihood of entry into (exit from) the labour market. We contrast our analysis by comparing it with male employment and find evidence of differential impact of ICT adoption. Finally, we find that the effect is limited to women with relatively higher levels of education and those belonging to relatively higher income households. We investigate the potential channels that could drive our results and find that women who adopt ICT have more flexible work options where they spend lesser time to travel to work, have a higher autonomy in work related decisions and a higher willingness to enter the workforce. Thus, ICT adoption by reducing information asymmetries in the labour market could increase female labour market participation.
{"title":"Information and communication technology and female employment in India","authors":"Ritika Jain , Tirtha Chatterjee","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101116","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101116","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We revisit the issue of declining female labour force participation in India by investigating the role of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption. Given that ICT has been rapidly penetrating in India in the past few decades, we explore the impact of ICT ownership and use on female labour market behaviour. We use a nationally representative survey, the India Human Development Survey and estimate instrumental variable regression models and find that ICT adoption increases the likelihood of female employment. Our results show that the positive impact of ICT adoption is limited to individuals who are salaried or are self-employed. Further, we find that ICT adoption increases (decreases) the likelihood of entry into (exit from) the labour market. We contrast our analysis by comparing it with male employment and find evidence of differential impact of ICT adoption. Finally, we find that the effect is limited to women with relatively higher levels of education and those belonging to relatively higher income households. We investigate the potential channels that could drive our results and find that women who adopt ICT have more flexible work options where they spend lesser time to travel to work, have a higher autonomy in work related decisions and a higher willingness to enter the workforce. Thus, ICT adoption by reducing information asymmetries in the labour market could increase female labour market participation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101116"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142706431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101114
Joshua S. Gans
Mobile app commissions paid by app developers to a monopolist device maker/app store operator are examined. Three results are demonstrated. First, unregulated app commissions are set at a level that maximises consumer surplus. Second, eliminating app commissions will likely lead to higher device prices. Third, requiring a menu of options for consumers as to how device makers receive subsidies from app developers constrains app commissions in a way that provides a more equal balance between consumer versus app developer interests.
{"title":"Three things about mobile app commissions","authors":"Joshua S. Gans","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101114","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101114","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mobile app commissions paid by app developers to a monopolist device maker/app store operator are examined. Three results are demonstrated. First, unregulated app commissions are set at a level that maximises consumer surplus. Second, eliminating app commissions will likely lead to higher device prices. Third, requiring a menu of options for consumers as to how device makers receive subsidies from app developers constrains app commissions in a way that provides a more equal balance between consumer versus app developer interests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101114"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-09DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101113
Jose Aurazo , Farid Gasmi
Digitalization of retail payments has facilitated financial inclusion. This is recognized to stimulate growth, alleviate poverty, and address gender disparities in the financial sector. This paper closely examines four prominent payment solutions in the developing world, namely M-Pesa in Kenya, UPI in India, Pix in Brazil, and Yape in Peru. These payment systems differ enough in their key characteristics to draw useful lessons from their successful implementation. We employ a descriptive approach based on a three-dimensional conceptual framework that emphasizes the role played by payment service providers, the role played by regulators and central banks, and the degree of payment system interoperability. We then attempt to make this framework operational by suggesting a way to quantitatively represent the four payment systems examined. While these varied experiences demonstrate that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, they highlight the necessity of active public-private sector cooperation and placing the end user at the center of such initiatives.
{"title":"Digital payment systems in emerging economies: Lessons from Kenya, India, Brazil, and Peru","authors":"Jose Aurazo , Farid Gasmi","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101113","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101113","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digitalization of retail payments has facilitated financial inclusion. This is recognized to stimulate growth, alleviate poverty, and address gender disparities in the financial sector. This paper closely examines four prominent payment solutions in the developing world, namely M-Pesa in Kenya, UPI in India, Pix in Brazil, and Yape in Peru. These payment systems differ enough in their key characteristics to draw useful lessons from their successful implementation. We employ a descriptive approach based on a three-dimensional conceptual framework that emphasizes the role played by payment service providers, the role played by regulators and central banks, and the degree of payment system interoperability. We then attempt to make this framework operational by suggesting a way to quantitatively represent the four payment systems examined. While these varied experiences demonstrate that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, they highlight the necessity of active public-private sector cooperation and placing the end user at the center of such initiatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101113"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142438429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101112
Laura Abrardi , Carlo Cambini , Steffen Hoernig
Time-inconsistent internet users neglect future privacy costs and release too much data to digital firms. We study how regulation that requires user consent for data processing affects firm profits, user surplus, and welfare, depending on the degree of time inconsistency and on firms' business models. If the firm appropriates sufficiently high profits from data, consent mechanisms increase welfare only if their design facilitates consent refusal and time inconsistency is neither too high nor too low. If firms can make it difficult to opt out, it may be better for society to let the former choose the disclosure level. However, consent policies increase user surplus when time inconsistency is high. Voluntary caps on usage can raise profits by making some users disclose more data.
{"title":"“I don't care about cookies!” data disclosure and time-inconsistent users","authors":"Laura Abrardi , Carlo Cambini , Steffen Hoernig","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101112","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Time-inconsistent internet users neglect future privacy costs and release too much data to digital firms. We study how regulation that requires user consent for data processing affects firm profits, user surplus, and welfare, depending on the degree of time inconsistency and on firms' business models. If the firm appropriates sufficiently high profits from data, consent mechanisms increase welfare only if their design facilitates consent refusal and time inconsistency is neither too high nor too low. If firms can make it difficult to opt out, it may be better for society to let the former choose the disclosure level. However, consent policies increase user surplus when time inconsistency is high. Voluntary caps on usage can raise profits by making some users disclose more data.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101112"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142326658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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