Pub Date : 2026-01-27DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2026.101159
Øystein Foros , Arne Rogde Gramstad , Bjørn Hansen
Non-discrimination clauses are once again central in digital markets, echoing the 1990s debates on telecom liberalization and resurfacing in later discussions on net neutrality. In practice, they often appear as margin squeeze regulations, requiring vertically integrated firms to offer wholesale access with a minimum margin between retail and wholesale prices—the margin’s size determining the rule’s strictness. We show that binding margin squeeze constraints can soften downstream competition, creating a trade-off between product variety and retail prices for both total and consumer welfare. Stricter rules, however, do not spur wholesale access competition, unlike direct wholesale price caps. These results have important implications for telecom and digital market regulation, where regulation of gatekeepers is tightening.
{"title":"Stricter margin squeeze regulation to achieve non-discrimination in digital markets","authors":"Øystein Foros , Arne Rogde Gramstad , Bjørn Hansen","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2026.101159","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2026.101159","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Non-discrimination clauses are once again central in digital markets, echoing the 1990s debates on telecom liberalization and resurfacing in later discussions on net neutrality. In practice, they often appear as margin squeeze regulations, requiring vertically integrated firms to offer wholesale access with a minimum margin between retail and wholesale prices—the margin’s size determining the rule’s strictness. We show that binding margin squeeze constraints can soften downstream competition, creating a trade-off between product variety and retail prices for both total and consumer welfare. Stricter rules, however, do not spur wholesale access competition, unlike direct wholesale price caps. These results have important implications for telecom and digital market regulation, where regulation of gatekeepers is tightening.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101159"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146090461","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 : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101151
Chao Fang , Jiafeng Pan , Peng Wu
Value-added tax (VAT) can promote tax compliance along the supply chain, yet it fails at the retail stage where consumers typically do not request receipts. This study examines whether the digitalization of tax administration can address this problem. Using firm-level tax survey data from China and employing a triple-difference strategy, this paper finds that with Golden Tax Project Phase 3 (GTP3), retail firms' reported revenue and VAT payment have shown a notable increase compared to wholesale firms. Further analysis suggests that GTP3 restricted firms from strategically adjusting their inputs and outputs to minimize VAT payments.
{"title":"Reaching the last mile: Digitalization of tax administration and VAT compliance at the retail stage","authors":"Chao Fang , Jiafeng Pan , Peng Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101151","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101151","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Value-added tax (VAT) can promote tax compliance along the supply chain, yet it fails at the retail stage where consumers typically do not request receipts. This study examines whether the digitalization of tax administration can address this problem. Using firm-level tax survey data from China and employing a triple-difference strategy, this paper finds that with Golden Tax Project Phase 3 (GTP3), retail firms' reported revenue and VAT payment have shown a notable increase compared to wholesale firms. Further analysis suggests that GTP3 restricted firms from strategically adjusting their inputs and outputs to minimize VAT payments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101151"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145625376","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 : 2025-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101150
Damien Girollet
This paper investigates whether mobile network coverage affects the performance of informal firms in Africa. Using business surveys conducted by Research ICT Africa in 2017-18 in eight sub-Saharan African countries, we rely on historic exposure to lightning strikes as an instrument for mobile network coverage to address endogeneity issues. Our findings show that firms with access to mobile connectivity report significantly higher sales and profits, supporting theoretical predictions on the overall positive effects of digital technology diffusion. As expected, this effect is even stronger for informal firms that actively leverage mobile technologies in their business operations, reflecting the direct benefits of purposeful adoption. These findings suggest that, while mobile network coverage and mobile phone ownership have expanded rapidly across Africa, effective adoption of mobile technology remains a key priority. Significant challenges persist regarding digital inequalities in usage, driven by affordability and skill gaps, highlighting the need for public policies to ensure that informal firms have equitable access to the economic opportunities offered by digital infrastructure.
{"title":"Does mobile network coverage increase the performance of informal firms? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"Damien Girollet","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101150","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates whether mobile network coverage affects the performance of informal firms in Africa. Using business surveys conducted by Research ICT Africa in 2017-18 in eight sub-Saharan African countries, we rely on historic exposure to lightning strikes as an instrument for mobile network coverage to address endogeneity issues. Our findings show that firms with access to mobile connectivity report significantly higher sales and profits, supporting theoretical predictions on the overall positive effects of digital technology diffusion. As expected, this effect is even stronger for informal firms that actively leverage mobile technologies in their business operations, reflecting the direct benefits of purposeful adoption. These findings suggest that, while mobile network coverage and mobile phone ownership have expanded rapidly across Africa, effective adoption of mobile technology remains a key priority. Significant challenges persist regarding digital inequalities in usage, driven by affordability and skill gaps, highlighting the need for public policies to ensure that informal firms have equitable access to the economic opportunities offered by digital infrastructure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101150"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145584442","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 : 2025-10-22DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101149
Xavier Lambin , Adrien Raizonville
The best-performing algorithms are often the least explainable. In parallel, there is growing concern and evidence that algorithms may autonomously engage in misconduct. Inspired by recent regulatory proposals, we propose a simple model of firm compliance and explainability decisions under the threat of (costly and imperfect) regulatory audits. When audit efficacy is independent of explainability, audits and transparency always encourage investment in explainability, with transparency signaling compliance. However, if explainability strongly improves audit efficacy, firms may hide misconduct behind opaque algorithms, a phenomenon exacerbated by opportunistic auditing policies. In these cases, audits may stimulate the proliferation of black box algorithms.
{"title":"From black box to glass box: algorithmic explainability as a strategic decision","authors":"Xavier Lambin , Adrien Raizonville","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The best-performing algorithms are often the least explainable. In parallel, there is growing concern and evidence that algorithms may autonomously engage in misconduct. Inspired by recent regulatory proposals, we propose a simple model of firm compliance and explainability decisions under the threat of (costly and imperfect) regulatory audits. When audit efficacy is independent of explainability, audits and transparency always encourage investment in explainability, with transparency signaling compliance. However, if explainability strongly improves audit efficacy, firms may hide misconduct behind opaque algorithms, a phenomenon exacerbated by opportunistic auditing policies. In these cases, audits may stimulate the proliferation of black box algorithms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101149"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145525554","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 : 2025-10-02DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101148
Giulia Rossello , Arianna Martinelli
Biased lobbying narratives shape the perceptions of citizens, practitioners, and policymakers. Copyright lobbies are particularly active today in influencing the Open Access transition. This paper investigates whether opposing copyright lobbies' narratives affect scholars' views on the publishing system. To test the persuasive power of these narratives, we conducted a large-scale randomized survey experiment in six European countries. Scholars were randomly assigned to a control group or exposed to one of two promotional videos representing opposing lobbying interests. The first video presented the publishers' narrative, portraying publishers as innovative firms and guardians of ethics and scientific advancement. The second video presented the narrative of copyright activists, depicting publishers as greedy and unethical. Our findings document scholars' general discontent with the publishing system. However, both lobbying narratives successfully influenced perceptions in favor of their respective causes. Overall, the publishers' narrative had a slightly smaller persuasive effect, largely due to a subset of participants who exhibited strong emotional reactions to the activists' messaging.
{"title":"The effect of lobbies' narratives on academics' perceptions of scientific publishing: A survey experiment","authors":"Giulia Rossello , Arianna Martinelli","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101148","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biased lobbying narratives shape the perceptions of citizens, practitioners, and policymakers. Copyright lobbies are particularly active today in influencing the Open Access transition. This paper investigates whether opposing copyright lobbies' narratives affect scholars' views on the publishing system. To test the persuasive power of these narratives, we conducted a large-scale randomized survey experiment in six European countries. Scholars were randomly assigned to a control group or exposed to one of two promotional videos representing opposing lobbying interests. The first video presented the publishers' narrative, portraying publishers as innovative firms and guardians of ethics and scientific advancement. The second video presented the narrative of copyright activists, depicting publishers as greedy and unethical. Our findings document scholars' general discontent with the publishing system. However, both lobbying narratives successfully influenced perceptions in favor of their respective causes. Overall, the publishers' narrative had a slightly smaller persuasive effect, largely due to a subset of participants who exhibited strong emotional reactions to the activists' messaging.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101148"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265769","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 : 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101147
Raphaela Andres , Thomas Niebel , Robin Sack
Until today, the question of how digitalisation and, in particular, individual digital technologies affect productivity is still the subject of controversial debate. Using administrative firm-level data provided by the Dutch and the German statistical offices, we investigate the economic importance of data, in particular, the relation between the application of big data analytics (BDA) and labour productivity (LP) at the firm level. We find that a simple binary measure indicating the mere usage of BDA fails to capture the association between BDA and LP. In contrast, measures of BDA diversity, defined as conducting BDA across multiple data sources, clearly show a positive and statistically significant relationship between BDA and LP, even after controlling for a firm's general digitalisation level. Hence, our results suggest that one mechanism through which firms conducting BDA may achieve greater productivity gains is by incorporating data from multiple domains.
{"title":"Big data and firm-level productivity – A cross-country comparison","authors":"Raphaela Andres , Thomas Niebel , Robin Sack","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101147","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Until today, the question of how digitalisation and, in particular, individual digital technologies affect productivity is still the subject of controversial debate. Using administrative firm-level data provided by the Dutch and the German statistical offices, we investigate the economic importance of data, in particular, the relation between the application of <em>big data analytics</em> (BDA) and <em>labour productivity</em> (LP) at the firm level. We find that a simple binary measure indicating the mere usage of BDA fails to capture the association between BDA and LP. In contrast, measures of BDA diversity, defined as conducting BDA across multiple data sources, clearly show a positive and statistically significant relationship between BDA and LP, even after controlling for a firm's general digitalisation level. Hence, our results suggest that one mechanism through which firms conducting BDA may achieve greater productivity gains is by incorporating data from multiple domains.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101147"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145104357","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}
Economies of scope in data aggregation (ESDA) are generated by the combination of complementary datasets involving the same observations. We estimate ESDA by progressively and randomly adding health and socioeconomic variables (predictors) to the machine-learning models we use to predict health outcomes. We find a positive effect of the number of variables on prediction quality, while holding the number of observations constant. We observe a positive relationship between variable complementarity and ESDA. ESDA show signs of increasing returns followed by decreasing returns. We further observe a long tail of highly contributing predictors in our data. These findings indicate that the nature of returns to scope in data aggregation may depend on the distribution of the predictors' information content. This underscores the importance of variable characteristics in determining ESDA's potential to create data barriers to entry. These results can help policymakers in designing data sharing initiatives such as the European Union's Common European Data Spaces.
{"title":"Economies of scope in data aggregation: Evidence from health data","authors":"Bruno Carballa-Smichowski , Néstor Duch-Brown , Seyit Höcük , Pradeep Kumar , Bertin Martens , Joris Mulder , Patricia Prüfer","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Economies of scope in data aggregation (ESDA) are generated by the combination of complementary datasets involving the same observations. We estimate ESDA by progressively and randomly adding health and socioeconomic variables (predictors) to the machine-learning models we use to predict health outcomes. We find a positive effect of the number of variables on prediction quality, while holding the number of observations constant. We observe a positive relationship between variable complementarity and ESDA. ESDA show signs of increasing returns followed by decreasing returns. We further observe a long tail of highly contributing predictors in our data. These findings indicate that the nature of returns to scope in data aggregation may depend on the distribution of the predictors' information content. This underscores the importance of variable characteristics in determining ESDA's potential to create data barriers to entry. These results can help policymakers in designing data sharing initiatives such as the European Union's Common European Data Spaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101146"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144890883","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 : 2025-07-29DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101145
Wei Jiang, Chunxing Gao
With the expansion of the scale of government digital procurement, its impact on economic life, especially on the labor market, has become increasingly evident. This paper employs Double Machine Learning (DML) estimation techniques to examine the impact of local government digital procurement on resident employment. The research findings indicate that local government digital procurement significantly reduces the unemployment rate among residents, and this conclusion holds after rigorous robustness checks. Further analysis reveals that these positive effects on employment are achieved through increased capital investment, enhanced job value, and improved productivity. Additionally, the impact of government digital procurement on employment is more pronounced in non-digital industries, and the beneficial effects on employment are more significant in regions with a larger proportion of the tertiary industry, higher levels of foreign investment, and more comprehensive social security systems.
{"title":"The wave of government digitalization: How government digital procurement affects residents’ employment","authors":"Wei Jiang, Chunxing Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101145","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the expansion of the scale of government digital procurement, its impact on economic life, especially on the labor market, has become increasingly evident. This paper employs Double Machine Learning (DML) estimation techniques to examine the impact of local government digital procurement on resident employment. The research findings indicate that local government digital procurement significantly reduces the unemployment rate among residents, and this conclusion holds after rigorous robustness checks. Further analysis reveals that these positive effects on employment are achieved through increased capital investment, enhanced job value, and improved productivity. Additionally, the impact of government digital procurement on employment is more pronounced in non-digital industries, and the beneficial effects on employment are more significant in regions with a larger proportion of the tertiary industry, higher levels of foreign investment, and more comprehensive social security systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101145"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749447","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 : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101142
Gustavo Bergantiños , Juan D. Moreno-Ternero
We study an index to measure the popularity of artists in music streaming platforms. This index, which can be used to allocate the amount raised via paid subscriptions among participating artists, is based on the Shapley value, a centerpiece in cooperative game theory. We characterize this Shapley index combining several axioms formalizing principles with normative appeal. This permits to place the index in the literature, as an alternative to the well-known (and widely used in the industry) pro-rata and user-centric indices.
{"title":"The Shapley index for music streaming platforms","authors":"Gustavo Bergantiños , Juan D. Moreno-Ternero","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101142","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101142","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study an index to measure the popularity of artists in music streaming platforms. This index, which can be used to allocate the amount raised via paid subscriptions among participating artists, is based on the Shapley value, a centerpiece in cooperative game theory. We characterize this <em>Shapley index</em> combining several axioms formalizing principles with normative appeal. This permits to place the index in the literature, as an alternative to the well-known (and widely used in the industry) pro-rata and user-centric indices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101142"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144535492","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 : 2025-06-27DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101141
L. Pinar-Garcia , I. Arribas , A. Urbano
Zero-rating is a recent practice that allows internet providers to discriminate among content. We offer new insights on the role of zero-rating practices when there is network congestion. In a market where consumers differ in their preferences for network speed, those who value network speed more create a congestion externality for an Internet Service Provider that limits its ability to capture consumer surplus from those who value network speed less. The monopolist may internalize the network congestion by using two discriminatory strategies: a menu of tariffs as a screening mechanism between consumers and zero-rating as a content revaluation tool. The combination of the two strategies acts as a mechanism to control network traffic without incremental provisioning of capacity. This is done by managing the network flow, through the strategic reallocation of the network traffic between content providers and consumers. Finally, zero-rating is detrimental to consumers independently of their type.
{"title":"Managing network traffic with discriminatory strategies: A study of zero-rating in an Internet market monopoly","authors":"L. Pinar-Garcia , I. Arribas , A. Urbano","doi":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101141","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.infoecopol.2025.101141","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Zero-rating is a recent practice that allows internet providers to discriminate among content. We offer new insights on the role of zero-rating practices when there is network congestion. In a market where consumers differ in their preferences for network speed, those who value network speed more create a congestion externality for an Internet Service Provider that limits its ability to capture consumer surplus from those who value network speed less. The monopolist may internalize the network congestion by using two discriminatory strategies: a menu of tariffs as a screening mechanism between consumers and zero-rating as a content revaluation tool. The combination of the two strategies acts as a mechanism to control network traffic without incremental provisioning of capacity. This is done by managing the network flow, through the strategic reallocation of the network traffic between content providers and consumers. Finally, zero-rating is detrimental to consumers independently of their type.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47029,"journal":{"name":"Information Economics and Policy","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101141"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522926","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}